Pharyss
by Annaxandra
Summary: A Cinderella tale with a twist...or ten. Instead of a ball, there is a month long celebration and the glass slipper is on someone else's foot. This is a tale of beautiful stepsisters, handsome princes, lavish balls, magical creatures, and the girl who sees it all in the city of Pharyss.
1. The Announcement

On the first day of the fifth month a parchment was nailed to the town's notice board that stirred up all the people in the Lyscos announcing the most anticipated event in Lantine. Few people in my small town could remember the last time a historic Pharyss celebration occurred. The last recorded celebration was held for the current king's engagement almost forty years ago. The ones who did recall spoke of the grandest balls, tournaments, dances, plays, performances, and feasts that were held in the king's high city. Since the celebrations required one to be the age of nineteen annuals at least, this would mean that I would be able to go to the king's city. It would be an event that I was sure to be talking about for the rest of my life, Ebony Valix's adventures in Pharyss.

So far my life had been ordinary. While stories are normally told about great heroes and heroines that do daring deeds or have outstanding moral qualities, I am not one of those people. My real father died soon after I was born, leaving my mother, brother, and me. My mother tried to cope on her own, but well-paying work is hard to find for a woman without a husband. A single woman with children and no husband had her promiscuity questioned. With such rumors circulating, my mother could not support herself and her children. Then she met Samuel Kingston, a wealthy nobleman who lived just outside our hamlet of Lyscos. Samuel was a single father of two beautiful daughters. It was not long before Samuel fell in love with my mother's beauty and the two were wed. My mother took on Samuel's surname, but my brother Andrew and I choose to keep the family name Valix in honor of our father. The union gave me, my brother, and my mother a new home in Samuel's manor and a new family.

My stepsisters, Giselle and Victoria, were known in Lyscos and the surrounding area for their immense beauty. I had lost count of all the young men arriving at our manor trying to win the hand of a maid so beautiful. Victoria had sparkling green eyes and flowing scarlet hair while Giselle was classically blond with clear blue eyes. My mother doted on the two sisters and rejoiced in having two such beautiful daughters. I, being much plainer than either of them with dark brown hair and pale blue eyes, faded into the background. I didn't have any suitors asking for my hand in marriage and my boyish frame made wearing pretty dresses difficult. So my mother and I grew apart the longer we lived with Samuel, Giselle, and Victoria. In the beginning, she tried to get us three girls to bond and become close. However, as we grew older it was apparent that Giselle and Victoria were becoming beautiful beyond compare and I was not. Left to my own devices while my mother took my stepsisters out into town and Samuel worked in his office, I was able to wander the small woods that grew around the manor with Andrew and learn things like archery and tree climbing. Both activities were completely scandalous for a woman to practice of course, but I enjoyed them and no one else had to know what I spent my time doing in the woods. Every day it was Andrew and I playing in the woods until I turned thirteen and he turned eighteen. On his annual, he decided to become a soldier. His patrols kept him traveling around the kingdom so I was not able to see him more than once every few years after he left. So I grew up, slightly apart from the rest of my family.

It was Samuel who thought that Giselle, Victoria, and I would benefit from going to Pharyss apart from our parents "as three lovely, independent women" he said. My mother instantly started to discuss with Giselle and Victoria about what clothes they would be bringing. She was convinced that one of them would surely win the heart of one of the princes, if not two of them. The eldest prince was nearly twenty five annuals and he would be the one to inherit the throne when the time came. My mother believed Victoria would end up with him as she was only two annuals younger. Giselle and I were closer to the age of the second prince, him being only a year older. My mother paired Giselle with him and her fantasy of having two daughters in the royal house was complete. I had no doubt that Giselle and Victoria's beauty could win the heart of any man, but I secretly thought that their immense vanity would soon drive away any suitor that spent any long period time with them. Fortunately for them no suitors ever got to spend that much time with either of my stepsisters so their arrogance remained a little known feature for the two.

Even though it was two months until the event took place, it was important to get into the city as soon as possible. With the entire land being invited to celebrate, the town filled up very quickly and once it was full they did not allow anyone else in. That gave Giselle, Victoria, and I very little time to prepare. Within the next day we were packed and the following morning saw us in the large carriage ready to depart for Pharyss. Our parents waved us off from the front steps of our manor. Giselle and Victoria waved enthusiastically and blew kisses dramatically in return as they hung out of either side of the carriage.

Once they had reentered the carriage they began whispering excitedly about what wonders awaited them in the king's city. I was left out of this conversation because I did not share their love for discussing the quality of stitching on a new dress and what the royal family would think of it. My stepsisters loved to go over every minute detail of every gown with each other before wearing it and the carriage ride gave them plenty of time to discuss their new clothes. It astounded me how they never seemed to tire of such subjects, but they were avidly discussing the same dress all day until we stopped in Glausshire, which would be the town where we would be giving the horses and driver a break for a few hours time.

The three of us got out of the coach and stretched. It was midday so we would be getting lunch at a café. Giselle and Victoria suggested that we could skip lunch and go shopping instead. Glausshire was known for its fashion community. They were holding hands and turning their heads in all directions to see all the large buildings and shops. We rarely left Lyscos so the large town of Glausshire was completely new for us.

"Oh, look over there, Tori," Giselle said. They had pet names for each other that my mother found simply adorable. "There is a man playing the horn right on the street."

"Where?" Victoria asked. Giselle pointed and they both squealed in delight. "I wonder why he is playing on a street corner instead of indoors. How odd this place is, don't you think, Elle?"

"Most assuredly, Tori, never have I seen so many new and wonderful things. Perhaps we could find a nice dress shop or cobbler. I would love to go shopping, the trip has worn me out and I feel like relaxing with buying nice things."

Victoria nodded. "Perhaps we could find a nice pair of handsome young men to escort us around the town and carry our bags. It shouldn't be too difficult, young men are so pleasant and accommodating."

I was standing off to the side listening to their conversation and looking around. Of course they felt that all young men were accommodating because around them it was true. All men wanted to be in the presence of such beauty and would do anything to be graced with a smile from either Giselle or Victoria.

"Perhaps we should get something to eat instead of something to wear. We only have an hour or two before we must be off again." I said. I was getting rather hungry and I thought it was a bad idea to go into a strange town alone.

Giselle started as if she had forgotten I was there, which she probably had. Victoria just laughed. "Silly little sister, don't you know Elle and I are watching what we eat closely while we are on this trip?"

Giselle smiled pityingly at me like I was not fully competent. "That's right; we do not want to look like bloated cows when we arrive in Pharyss. What would the royal family think?"

"But if you are feeling hungry then you must eat. Your figure does not take as much minding as ours do for you don't have a tiny waistline to worry about." Victoria said. They regularly spoke in turn as if they could not speak a complete thought without the other.

Giselle continued her sister's thought. "Don't feel too bad about it, dear. Of course some men like the more full figured look."

"You may go eat, but remember don't go too far away from the carriage. We don't want to lose you." Victoria said. They both turned and starting walking along the street to look in shop windows as they had planned.

I was used to them demeaning me at every opportunity. They did not understand it was not polite to point out physical flaws so blatantly. However, I was not much thicker around the waist than they were. The only difference was that they had been tied into corsets since they were thirteen and it had pinched their waists in unnaturally. My mother tried to put me in corsets as well but I would scream and shout every time she did. I even went as far as to rip up the corsets with a knife I had found in the kitchens one day. After that my mother gave up on making me wear them and turned most of her attention to my stepsisters who would suffer through the rib crushing devices with a smile.

I decided to stay with the carriage and not wander off too far so I bought a sandwich from a vendor and returned to where the driver had parked the carriage. It was too hot and stuffy inside so I sat on the front where the driver sits and ate my lunch. People looked at me strangely because divers were almost always male but I didn't care. I just watched people pass until the driver was done feeding and watering the horses and he declared it was time to set off again. Giselle and Victoria had not returned. I hoped they would not be long. The driver had made me get off of his seat and I climbed back into the carriage, keeping the door open.

It was not long before the pair returned with a man on each arm and two behind carrying shopping bags and boxes. I was always amazed at the willingness of men to help them no matter what the task. Fortunately they understood that we needed to get to the king's city as soon as possible and did not waste time in long goodbyes. They climbed into the carriage with me and the second part of the journey consisted of them picking apart each man that they had found and naming all his flaws and attributes. With Giselle and Victoria, the flaws generally outweighed the attributes by a large amount. When you looked at him from the side his nose had an odd tilt to it or his voice was too deep and scratchy. The lists seemed to go on and on until it seemed they had gone over every piece of each of the six men. To me each of the men looked handsome enough but my stepsisters weren't fully happy unless they were naming people's flaws.

The second day of the three day journey was spent in much the same manner as the first. When we stopped at midday, Giselle and Victoria would wander the town and buy things. By the end of the day they had already filled the storage compartment and were starting to pile items inside the carriage which made the ride more uncomfortable than it already was. We had each gotten an exorbitant amount of money to spend in Pharyss and my stepsisters were already spending as much as they could.

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Hello, readers and reviewers! I'm an honored that you have taken the time to read my story and hope you liked it. Updates will be whenever I feel like it for the first couple of chapters. I hate people who say this, but here goes...I love feedback and hearing what you lovely people think, so if you drop me a few lines in a review I would be happy to post things in a more timely manner. Speaking of reviews, if you review I will personally answer every one of you within a day or two. I don't really even care if they are bad reviews because then maybe I can improve my story based on the criticism. Just tell me what you think!


	2. A Royal Mishap

The third and final day we ran into trouble. While traveling a particularly bumpy stretch of road the carriage bumped and then came crashing down on one side as one of the wheels broke. Luckily, there was a spare wheel under the carriage that my stepfather had the foresight to attach before our journey. The driver jumped down from his perch and calmed the horses before checking on us in the carriage. We had slid to the corners of the seats and all the boxes and bags that had been piled in around us had dumped their contents everywhere. It was a challenge getting out of the carriage because with every move I made it seemed one of my stepsisters would scream that I was stepping on one of their new things. Eventually though, we managed to pull ourselves out with the help of the driver. Victoria and Giselle were frantic worrying about how much of a delay there would be and their luggage.

I was trying to help the driver get the wheel out and right the carriage. Once we got the wheel out it turned out that we didn't have enough manpower to right the carriage enough to put the wheel on. While the driver and I were on the opposite side of the carriage we heard Giselle and Victoria making a commotion on the other side. They were shouting at another carriage that was coming down the road escorted by four soldiers on horseback. The carriage was exquisitely designed and held someone of great significance. The carriage and soldiers stopped and I could hear my stepsisters cooing at them about what an unfortunate situation had befallen us. I left the driver and went to the other side of the carriage. Three of the four soldiers had dismounted their horses and were listening to Victoria and Giselle tell the story of what had happened. The younger soldier was entranced by the two but the other three were older and less susceptible to womanly wiles.

The grand carriage door opened and three men and a woman stepped out. My hand flew to my mouth and I gasped when I recognized who it was. Giselle and Victoria were more mannerly than I was. They promptly bowed and greeted Prince Hector, Princess Joslynn and her fiancé Prince Reginald of Tarahan, and Prince Christian. The royal carriage had happened across ours. While I was still dumbstruck by this surprising turn of events, Giselle and Victoria were already making friends with the royal family.

"Oh, you poor dears, you have been through quite an ordeal. Geoffrey, Thaddeus, Patrick, and Adam will help you right your carriage." Princess Joslynn said kindly.

The princess was very beautiful with a thick golden braid hanging down over one shoulder and larger brown eyes. She and Prince Reginald had linked arms when they had gotten out of their carriage. Her two brothers stood on either side of the couple. The eldest, Hector, was tall and broad with a strong jaw and short cropped hair. The younger brother, Christian, was shorter than his brother and less broad but he was still quite sturdy looking with strong arms and legs. Only Christian shared his sister's glossy golden hair, Hector's hair was dark. I decided it was time to introduce myself. I stepped forward to stand by my stepsisters. The four guards had already begun helping our driver with righting the carriage and putting the wheel on.

The seven of us talked while the soldiers fixed out carriage. Giselle and Victoria were getting along very well with the princess and her fiancé. They were also coyly flirting with the princes as well. They were definitely making a good impression. I, on the other hand, was finding it hard to come up with anything witty to say and barely contributed to conversation. Nevertheless, I noticed that the young Prince Christian kept glancing in my direction.

"We are excited to attend the festivities in a few months," Victoria began.

"Oh yes, my sisters and I saw the announcement and we decided to set off as soon as possible to arrive in time." Giselle said in turn.

Victoria continued after her sister, "We want to wish you our sincerest congratulations on your engagement. I hope you will have a long and happy marriage."

"That is very kind of you, thank you." Prince Reginald said. "I am hoping the same thing. I love Joslynn and could think of no one I want to spend my life with more."

Prince Hector had excused himself to see how the soldiers were progressing with the carriage wheel. It seemed that weddings and balls were not a point of interest for him. Christian, on the other hand, was nearly as demure as I was and hardly spoke. He would only speak when asked a direct question by one of my sisters. As much as Giselle tried to incorporate him into their conversation, he remained quiet. It was understandable that the two men would not want to discuss the details of a wedding as the others were doing; I wasn't too keen on the subject either.

Christian seemed to notice, "Miss Ebony, perhaps you would like to see the horses?"

I was taken aback by such a proposition from the prince. I hesitated when answering. It seemed as if he just wanted to escape the current conversation and wanted me to escape with him. "I would like that very much." I said at last.

We walked a few yards away from the others. I knew Giselle would be sensationally jealous and surely berate me for it later. Prince Christian was destined for her after all according to mother. The horses that pulled the royal carriage were much larger and grander than ours. Their coats were a mixture of black and white with long hair falling over their hooves. I had never seen horses such as these before. I ran my hand along one of the velvet noses. "They are horses from Tarahan. We are returning from Reginald's kingdom." Christian said.

I continued to pet the horse. "They are beautiful." I was not sure of what to make of Prince Christian. "Are you excited for your sister's wedding and the celebrations?"

I could tell he was trying not to sigh or roll his eyes; he wanted to get away from the wedding talk. "I am happy that Joslynn found love and I am sure they will be very happy together. As for the celebrations, it is going to be extravagant to say the least. All manner of decorations and foods and entertainment have been pouring into Pharyss for a while now. I am excited to see it all come together."

"This is my first trip to the king's city." I said. "This will be my first trip anywhere almost. My family doesn't travel very far very often."

Christian nodded. "It is a wonderful city. Your sisters are both quite charming; my sister is quite taken with them. Where are you three coming from?"

The horse shook its head, apparently tired of being petted. I stopped and turned to face the prince. "We come from Lyscos. It's quite small, but it's where I have lived my whole life."

He nodded again. It was a moment before he spoke again, as if he was choosing his words carefully. "You and your sisters are very different."

That much was obvious, they were beautiful. I didn't think that was what he was referring to though. "How do you mean?"

"They seem to be very decorous and outgoing. They are proper ladies." He said slowly. He must have seen the change in my face because he quickly amended his last statement. "Not to say that you are not a proper lady. I have just never seen a woman stoop down to help a servant repair a carriage as you did. Such things are normally a man's work."

I shrugged. I was embarrassed that he had seen me helping with the broken wheel. He was right; most women would not have even considered helping a servant. "There were no men present to help and the driver needed it."

Christian smiled. I noted that he had a nice smile, it was kind. "It is refreshing to see someone who is not so vapid as to ignore someone who needs help."

I could not be sure, but I was pretty sure he had just called Giselle and Victoria vapid. Hector announced that the carriage was fixed and Christian turned so he missed the lovely shade of red my face was fast turning, to my great relief. While Christian and I were talking, my stepsisters and Joslynn had decided that our two carriages would travel together to Pharyss as that was the mutual destination. Giselle and Victoria where thrilled with the arrangement and eagerly agreed. They would surely be included in all of the royal parties now and not just the ones in the town. Before I climbed back into our carriage, I turned to look at Chri stian. I was surprised; he had turned too and winked at me. I smiled as I got into the carriage.

The wink was not missed by Giselle who immediately began questioning me as the carriages began moving again. "What did the prince say? Why did he want to talk to you and not me? Did he say anything about me?"

I shrugged and looked out the window. This was the first time that a man had favored me over her and I wanted to savor it. "We just talked about things - the wedding, Pharyss…"

Giselle crossed her arms and pouted. "That's what we were talking about. He didn't have to leave and why did he wink at you. I mean men don't even like you, you're not very pretty or smart."

"I don't think you should talk to him anymore." Victoria said. "We can't have you bothering the royal family. Maybe you should just keep away."

Giselle nodded. I could see that she was nearly in tears. I could not muster any pity for her though. She always had men falling at her feet; she couldn't be upset just because there was one that didn't. "I don't have to stay away from the prince. I wasn't bothering him; he wanted to talk to me."

Victoria made a dismissive noise. "Of course he didn't want to talk to you. You're deluding yourself. I think he was just overwhelmed by how beautiful and charming Elle is and he needed to escape for decorum's sake before he did something rash."

Now it was my turn to scoff. Giselle, however, looked up from the tears she was wiping with a handkerchief. "You really think so?"

Victoria nodded. "Of course, why would anyone choose Ebony over you? He was probably so overcome with a sudden rush of affection for you that he had to resist the urge to take you in his arms and never let you go. To be proper he distracted himself for a time with the plainness of Ebony to keep his feelings for you in check."

Giselle was nodding in agreement now. She had put down her handkerchief. "You are probably right."

I tried not to laugh in their faces. Victoria's explanation was the most absurd thing I had ever heard. Not every man had to fall in love with the beautiful Giselle. She even thanked me for saving the prince from his strong feelings for her, but to not distract him the next time and let him sweep her off her feet. I held back my outburst at that ridiculous order because I did not want to spend the rest of the trip under the close and potentially cruel thumbs of my stepsisters. The situation had never occurred where a man they wanted did not want them, but I did not want to find out what they were capable of if pushed. They were so self involved that they would not care what they did in pursuit of what they wanted. I had once seen Victoria nearly maim a shop girl who wouldn't let her buy a bracelet. Marrying a prince was much more important to them than a bracelet.

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So that was chapter two, what did you think? Unfortunately, the computer that had this file saved on it crashed and kind of stopped my writing it. Luckily, I had most of it saved on here and after the crashing of the computer proceeded to save the file to a flash drive so it would not go the way of many, many other stories and be lost forever. So whenever I get my good computer up and running again I will continue on with Pharyss. Until then I will write my ideas for this story down on paper (not computer like before) so I have plenty to write when I can.


	3. Arrival

We arrived safely to Pharyss with no more problems. Since we arrived in the company of the royal carriage we were promptly admitted through the gates of the city. It was a huge sprawling city that sat on a plateau-like hill. From the level outside circumference that was marked by the high stone walls, the city gradually rose up the hill to the level top which was obviously the wealthier district. In the center of the plateau sat the royal castle. It was made out of white and grey stones and sported large stained glass windows on the ground floor. The towers and roofs were all topped with elegant spires from which golden flags bearing the royal crest waved in the wind. Victoria and Giselle informed me that the princess had invited them to the castle for dinner that night.

"That is why we are heading to the castle, of course." Giselle said.

Victoria was quick to discourage any hope that I too would be attending. They were still sore over the fact I had spoken to the prince. "But you don't need to trouble yourself with going. I know how tiring it is for you to sit at large dinners and talk to people. You can go find an inn for us to stay in. I'm sure you will find one that is up to our standards in quality. I do not want to stay in some hovel."

Giselle nodded. "Oh, Ebony, that would be so helpful. Try to find somewhere with a suite so we can each have our own rooms. Make sure they have nice people there too and serve good food."

I sighed. It would have been nice to go to a royal dinner but there was no way that Giselle and Victoria would let me attend. They would probably make up some lie about how I felt ill or some other malady had befallen me. Perhaps it was for the best, maybe they would forget that the prince had wanted to speak to me. "Of course, I will try and find a nice hotel near the castle."

The sisters said a hurried thank you as they exited the carriage once we arrived at the castle. It was lucky that even after a day of travelling they still looked presentable enough to dine with royalty. I heard the prince inquire as to me and then the explanation that I was just so tired after a long day of travels and wanted to go straightaway to an inn. I expected that to be the end of it but there were a few mumbled sentences I didn't catch then a soft tap at the carriage door. It opened and Prince Christian opened the door. No chance of my being forgiven for anything now.

"You really don't need to escort her, your highness." Giselle was saying. She had even gone so far as to put a hand on his arm as if to pull him back.

Victoria joined her sister in trying to stop the prince from whatever he was doing. "I'm sure she will manage fine with the driver. It won't be but an hour before she is settled into an inn somewhere safe and sound."

Christian only smiled at me. He didn't even glance back at my step sisters. "I'm sure Miss Ebony would benefit from a guide. The streets of Pharyss can be quite confusing for someone who has just arrived." I tried to protest but he climbed into the carriage anyway and sat across from me. He closed the door behind him.

"That's my brother, he is always so gallant." I could hear Joslynn saying outside the carriage. "Come, let us go eat. Our cook is one of the finest in the city."

"You really didn't have to miss out on dinner to guide me around the town." I said as the driver turned the carriage around and left the castle courtyard.

"Nonsense," Christian said. "Why would I want to spend another dinner in the castle when I could show a charming young lady around the city on her first night here?"

I smiled shyly. Prince Christian was very brusque when he spoke. "You hardly even know me; you only met me this afternoon."

"Joslynn only met your sisters this afternoon and tonight they are dining at the castle. It is very unfortunate that you are too tired to join them." He spoke as if he had seen right through Giselle's and Victoria's lie. It was almost impossible to believe, but it seemed as if the prince was more interested in me than in my stepsisters, though I could not fathom the reason why.

I decided I would clarify my family situation to him once and for all. "Giselle and Victoria are not my true sisters. They are my stepsisters. My mother married their father when I was young."

"Then it is understandable how you are so different from both of them. They are both undeniably beautiful, but they remind me so much of the insipid woman of the gentry who can speak of nothing else but the shallowest of subjects. I'm sure they are both charming girls, but I would rather spend my time with someone I find more interesting." I noticed that he was leaning slightly toward me. I was unsure of what to do; I had never had a man so interested in me before, let alone a prince!

"You find me interesting?" I mimicked his body language and leaned slightly towards him. I never thought it would happen, but now I was trying to act with the ease and confidence that Giselle and Victoria had around men.

He tilted his head and smiled ever so slightly and flirtatiously. "Exceedingly interesting," He said. "A woman who is willing to get her lovely dress dirty to help a lowly driver and one who would pet a Tarahinian horse so willingly without fear. I can only imagine what other surprises are in store for me the more I get to know you."

I bit my lip and I was sure that my face was quite flushed. I looked away and said something to try and calm my rapidly beating heart. "If you are going to show me a decent inn to stay at, perhaps you should inform the driver on the best route to one."

"Quite right," He said. I pressed my back into the seat as he leaned across the distance that separated our two seats. His arm reached over my shoulder and I became acutely aware of his closeness. He was quite literally leaning over me to open the small window that allowed the passengers to communicate with the driver. When he instructed the driver on the way to go, I did not hear any of his words even though his lips were mere inches from my ear. It was that fact that drowned out his words with the beating of my heart. He closed the window and sat back down across from me. His retreat back to a farther distance did nothing to calm my racing heart. My head was still spinning from the nearness of him. He had been so close I could smell him. Even though he had been riding in a carriage he still managed to smell like wind and warmth and outdoors.

I think he knew exactly what he was doing to me. He was a prince and most assuredly had a wealth of knowledge on how to attract a girl's attention. He had sure caught mine. I could not imagine how I, a girl who had never had a man call on her once, had managed to capture a man's attention and it was not just any man, it was the prince. I tried not to stare at him in awe as the driver followed the prince's directions to our destination. I could not think of anything to say and Christian was not speaking either so I felt terribly awkward sitting in silence with a prince.

I looked nervously out the window and cleared my throat. "So where are we going?"

Christian smiled. "It's a lovely place on West End. It's called the Gilded Leopard. I think you will really like it."

"It's not me that has to like it." I said quietly, but not quietly enough that he didn't hear.

"Then who has to like it?" He asked. He leaned his elbows on his knees and folded his hands. "You're the one who is going to be staying there."

I really did not think it was appropriate to explain the actions of my stepsisters and the cause of them because Prince Christian was the cause, but I had already alluded to it and I doubted the prince would drop the subject so easily. I choose my words carefully and tried not to give too much away. "Victoria and Giselle have very exact tastes; they will be most upset if I choose a room that does not meet their requirements."

"That's silly," He said. "I think they should take your opinions into consideration as well."

I shrugged. I didn't know what to say. Giselle and Victoria didn't take anyone's opinions into consideration other than their own. Luckily the carriage stopped before I had a chance to reply. Like a gentleman, Christian helped me out of the carriage. He had definitely chosen a grand location. The hotel was grand and had four giant columns standing in front supporting a balcony where people sat at tables dining. On either side of the wide steps that led up to the main doors sat two golden leopard statues. Giselle and Victoria would surely be impressed when they arrived.

I shook my head, "Oh no, this is much too extravagant. I'm sure it is much more than we can afford."

He just smiled and put a hand on the small of my back to lead me up the steps. "Don't worry about that, the Gilded Leopard has always housed friends of the castle free of charge. You see, it was founded by one of my ancestors so royal guests are always welcome."

That has been the third installment of the Pharyss story, I hope you all liked it. Good news, I now have a (barely) working computer again and whenever I get the Microsoft Office programs on here I will try to start up again and hopefully get over this writer's block.


	4. The Gilded Leopard

The huge doors were opened by a pair of smartly dressed men who nodded respectfully at the prince. Beyond the doors there was a rather large room with plush couches on one side and what appeared to be a dance floor on the other. Between the two branched of a large staircase that curved inward, sat a woman behind a large white desk. Everything about the room seemed clean and glistening. The mirrored walls were broken only by thin columns of gold that ran upwards to meet in the center of the domed ceiling. Beneath our feet was a red rug leading from the door to the front desk. While I was gaping at the beautiful place, Christian was explaining the situation to the woman. Three young ladies would be requiring a suite for the duration of the festivities.

"Of course, your highness," The woman said. "It is always a pleasure to serve the royal family in any way possible. The Crocodile Room is all prepared for guests. I'm sure you remember the way."

Christian nodded his thanks and we left the front desk. I followed him up one of the staircases branches and down one of the hallways that branched off the balcony. The hallways were just as grand as the entry hall but instead of glass ceilings there were murals and paintings lining the walls. Lanterns hanging from the wall lit the hall every few feet. I examined the lanterns and it seemed that there was no fuel source for the fire to remain lit.

Christian noticed and explained how the curious contraptions worked. "They are fairy-made. The light will never burn out unless the lamp is destroyed. It is rather convenient for lighting the rooms. There are a lot of fairy made contraptions here. The architect was actually half fairy and had fairy craftsmen working for him."

"Magic?" I gasped. Where I came from, magic was rare at best and even then it was not as impressive as the eternally burning lanterns that lined these walls. Pharyss was a rich city indeed.

We stopped at an arched green door that read "Crocodile Room" on a small golden nameplate. After seeing how lavishly the halls of the Gilded Leopard were decorated, I was feeling a bit nervous at what the room would look like. I had never been in a place so richly decorated with magic. "So crocodile, that doesn't sound very pleasant." I said before opening the door.

"You'll love it," Christian said as he grabbed the crocodile head doorknob.

He was right, I was instantly in love with the room. Despite what the name suggested the Crocodile Room was hardly like the animal. From the hallway I could see that the walls of the room were white with wooden paneling on the bottom. A delicate vine print was painted around the edges where the wall met the ceiling. The furniture was forest green and dark wood. Light streamed into the room from a large window that showed a small balcony on the other side of the glass. The opposite walls of the room each had a door similar to the one I had just opened. I stepped into the room and gasped. The floor felt as if I was stepping onto a cloud, as if I was hardly stepping on ground at all. I was afraid to touch anything for fear I would ruin the beautiful way the room was decorated.

"What's through the doors?" I asked.

Christian went to open one. They were bedrooms with similar furniture as the sitting room. The beds were large canopy beds situated so that when the window was open the bed was covered in light. As of now, the heavy curtains were closed and the room was lit by the fairy lanterns. I felt the satin sheets that lay on one of the beds; they were buttery smooth and very inviting after a long day of travel.

"This is so kind of you," I said to the prince. "I and my sisters are so grateful for all your help. I cannot think of a way to repay you."

Christian shook his head. "There is no need for reparations. If I had not gotten you a room here, my sister would have surely insisted. I can tell she and your stepsisters are going to be great friends during your stay here. It is very lucky that we came across your carriage when we did."

I nodded and continued to stare in awe at the wonderful room. I could not believe our luck today. This trip would be even better than expected.

Two young men brought the luggage from the carriage to our room. I was informed by one of the young men that the driver had taken the carriage back to the castleto escort Victoria and Giselle here when their dinner was over. Christian stayed until the very last bag was carried in. He proposed to stay longer and help me get settled, but I insisted that he return to his own family and that I was fine. Even then he seemed unwilling to leave; with him gone the room seemed very empty. Moments after he departed I decided that I would go to sleep. Giselle and Victoria would not care if I waited up for them. I sorted my luggage from the pile and pulled out the things I would need. In one of the bedrooms there was a small washroom with a marble bathtub. I took my nightgown out of my luggage and drew a bath. It had been a long day on the road and a nice warm bath would be nice. It took me a bit to figure out the knobs and levers that were all around the bathtub, this too was obviously a fairy made contraption. Warm water and pink soap filled the tub from the spout as I undressed. When the tub was full I climbed in and enjoyed getting clean. After my bath, I got into my nightgown and crawled into the large bed. It was as comfortable as I had imagined and I was soon asleep.

I was woken much too soon by two pair of hands shaking me. Giselle and Victoria had returned. "Ebony, get up." They were saying.

It took me a moment to wake up from the deep, comfortable sleep I was in. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "What time is it?"

"It is just past midnight," Giselle said hurriedly. "We are dreadfully tired." Then she looked to Victoria. Being the eldest, Victoria seemed to be in charge most of the time. It was normally her that gave orders.

"We discussed it and we think that you should sleep in the sitting room. There are only two rooms you know and Elle and I have such a hard time sleeping away from home. It would be best for all of us if we could have the bedrooms and you can have the middle room." Victoria said. The two were pulling me out of bed by my arms. It seemed I had no choice in the matter.

"Can't two of us share a bed?" I asked. I did not want to give up the nice warm comfort of those luxurious beds.

They both looked horrified. "Of course we can't!" They exclaimed.

Victoria took a breath and explained her reasoning. "We most certainly cannot share either bed. Imagine what would happen if one of us was a violent sleeper, or if we rolled over in our sleep. We could end up seriously injured and that simply cannot happen; we have planned to spend most of our days at the castle with Joslynn and it would be horrendous if we were to show up injured."

"Tomorrow we are going to get a tour of the castle." Giselle said excitedly. "And we need our rest, so if you could just go to the sitting room we can get to sleep. Don't worry; we've already moved the luggage into our rooms so you don't have to worry about that."

"Why can't one of you sleep in the sitting room then?" I asked again. I knew it was probably hopeless, but I still hoped in my half awake state that one of them would give up one of the beds.

This idea seemed equally appalling to them. They claimed to have bad backs and aching joints and simply had to sleep in a proper bed. They explained all their ailments as they pushed me from the room and closed the door in my face. They had said that they were each going to take a bath and then go to bed. I was too tired to argue about it anymore tonight so I just turned and faced my new room. The furniture in this room was unorthodox. One of the chairs sat three seats back to back in a sort of triangular shape with armrests in between. No hope of sleeping on that. The only other seating was four oddly shaped matching chairs. One sat in the very corner of the room. The low back of all the chairs formed right angles and looked every uncomfortable. The seats of the chairs were curved unevenly to a point. There had to be something to lie on in this room other than the floor, which seemed to be made of air but would not do for sleeping. The more I examined the four strange chairs, the more I wondered at their purpose. I sat in one of them; they were a bit longer than regular chairs so I thought it might be comfortable enough. I was wrong. I sat on the odd chair and examined its mates. I ran my hand down the curve of the seat. It looked as if it would go together with another one of the chairs like a puzzle piece. All the chairs would fit together that way to make a square – a square perfect for sleeping in. It would be different because I would have to literally climb into it over the chair backs but it was all there was. I would have to move the round table a bit; I was going to put them all together in the corner so I wouldn't have to move that one chair. It was hard to move the table but eventually I managed. By the time I had moved the chairs though I just fell into the bed I had made and left my legs hanging over the edge. I was breathing heavily. Giselle walked out of the bedroom then and looked at my hard work. "Very clever, you made a bed. Goodnight." She said curtly and went into the other bedroom. Luckily there was a thick blanket over one of the arms of the three-person chair and a pillow on one of the bed chairs. I pulled them into my boxy bed and fell asleep for the second time that night.

The next day Giselle and Victoria were awake and preparing for another day at the castle. They were going on and on to me about their relations with the princess and how glad they were that they were becoming good friends. When they had left, I remained in the room wondering what I could spend the day doing. I got dressed slowly while I pondered about how to spend my time. I was standing in front of a mirror that hung on the wall brushing my hair when a knock on the door made me jump. I slowly opened the door and a young girl was there. She was about thirteen and dressed in a servant's frock.

The girl curtsied. "Good morning, miss. I was sent to inform you that you have a visitor waiting down in the main hall."

"A visitor," I asked. I wondered who it could be, I did not know anyone here. The girl nodded and I stepped out into the hall and closed the room door behind me.

* * *

Hello, again! I figured since I wrote another chapter that I had better post another chapter and it's been awhile hasn't it? I've been kind of distracted recently because of a little show called Community and I'm doing homework now cause you know school and I have a book to read which is an all too rare occurrence. But how about this, I try and finish the next chapter tonight while I feel like typing? Sounds good so onward to the writing!

...I'm a bit tired so I don't know how this is going to turn out, should be fun.


	5. Tour of the Town

I followed the girl back to the main hall. As we descended the stairs I was surprised to see Prince Christian leaning on the front desk. He smiled and waved when he saw me and I did likewise. I wondered what he could be doing here. Often Giselle and Victoria had men calling on them for days at a time but a prince calling on me?

I curtsied. "Good morning, your highness."

He gave a slight bow. "Good morning, Miss Ebony." He said. "Forgive me for calling upon you so early but I think that we should get an early start for all the things I have planned today."

I raised my eyebrows. He wanted to take me out for a full day. "You have things planned for today?"

He offered his arm to me and I laid my hand in the crook of his elbow. Together we walked down the red rug and to the doors. "Oh yes, I want to make sure your first full day in Pharyss in memorable. You should get to know the city before the festivities begin; it will make them all the more enjoyable."

Two horses were waiting on the street in front of the hotel. One of the doormen was holding their reins to keep them from wandering off. It seemed as if we would not be taking a carriage today. The horses were not the foreign ones from yesterday. One horse was black and the other was white with large brown patches. Christian led me to the brown and white horse which was to be mine. Luckily I had not put on a dress that would have made riding difficult. He swung himself up onto the black horse. I had learned to ride when I was young with Giselle and Victoria so I did not look the fool by not knowing how to ride.

"Today, for your touring pleasure, we will be seeing all the major areas where events will be held in the town." Prince Christian said formally. His voice made me laugh which pleased him.

The first place he showed me was a large square with a mermaid fountain in the center. He announced that this is where the biggest outdoor balls would be held for the townspeople. Today, the square was filled with people walking about. From the square we went to a theatre where every night performers would take the stage and entertain the audience with their talents. Then we went to a huge grassy area that he said would be used as a zoo with all manner of exotic creatures. It seemed odd to me that there would be a field in the middle of a town but Christian said it was used annually in the summer for the zoo. Next was a smaller square that had orderly rows of lampposts lined up in the center. The prince explained that on nights during the celebration the lamps would be lit with fairy lights that would shift colors creating a rainbow of light. We passed through a square where men were setting up maypoles that the children would dance around holding their colorful streamers. In another square, game booths would be set up like a carnival. Another hotel, similar to the one I was staying in, was going to host grand balls and parties for its guests and the visiting dignitaries. Christian informed me that if I wanted to attend that I could, but he also said that I would probably be at the royal balls with him. This he said with a wink. Nearly every place we passed would be the location for some sort of entertainment. The entire town would be celebrating every day. There would be sporting events, musical performances, and feasts taking place everywhere as well as everything else I had already seen. There were even going to be fireworks every night counting down until the first day of the celebration. I had heard the stories from people who had attended the last king's city celebration but none of them seemed to do justice to what would really be going on.

For each meal he took me to a different place. For breakfast we ate from a vendor on the street who had arrived for the celebration as well. Lunch was eaten at a small outdoor café near the square with the fountain. For dinner he took me to an all-too-romantic restaurant. At the end of the day I was feeling light from my day with the prince. It was perfect and I was looking forward to the rest of my stay. When we returned to the Gilded Leopard, I was reluctant to leaving because being with Christian was so enjoyable. Yet he had to return to the castle. He helped me off my horse and before saying goodbye kissed my hand delicately.

"I had a wonderful time today playing tour guide for you." He said. He was still holding my hand in his.

I smiled and tightened my grip on his hand. "You were a wonderful tour guide; I am a very lucky girl."

We said our goodbyes and I practically floated back to the Crocodile Room. I drifted through the door and went straight to my couch bed and fell over the side. I just lay there staring blissfully at the ceiling and recalling all the events of the day. My reverie was short lived because as soon as they heard the door close Victoria and Giselle were in the sitting room questioning me.

They both had their arms crossed and were staring down at me and I was grinning up at them. "Why are you smiling like that?" Victoria asked.

"Where have you been all day?" Giselle said at the same time. "You were not here when we returned."

I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. "I was in town."

"All day?" They said together.

I nodded. "Prince Christian gave me a tour of all that is to come with the festivities. Did you know there are lights that change color in one square? I'm sure it will be beautiful when they are lit."

Giselle burst into tears and ran back into her room. She was sobbing at how ugly she was and that was the reason the prince didn't pay her any attention. Victoria glared at me. "Now look what you did," She snapped. "Poor Elle is devastated by your inane actions with her prince. How could you be so cruel?"

"Giselle has men falling at her feet at every turn. She shouldn't be upset when one happens to enjoy my company over hers." I said. I probably should have been more careful about what I was saying, but I couldn't contain my thoughts.

I thought Victoria was going to slap me, but she didn't. Instead she leaned over me and spoke in a dangerous tone. "Giselle is in love with the prince and you are a terrible person for trying to ruin that for her. Tomorrow I want you to go into town and buy her a present to apologize and never flirt or see the prince again unless we are with you. You are a very selfish person, Ebony."

I sat up. "I am not buying her a present because she can't deal with not being the center of attention."

"Then I will make sure this is a very unpleasant trip for you." She sneered. "If you don't do as I say you will be confined to this room for the entire stay. I am the eldest so I am in charge, mother said so. Now I have to go comfort my sister because of your cruelty."

She turned sharply on her heel and went into Giselle's room. She slammed the door behind her and I was left with her threat echoing in my head. I heard the fireworks outside, seven booms for the seven weeks remaining until the celebrations officially began.

Victoria woke me in the morning and made me dress and wash hurriedly. Giselle and Victoria were going to spend another day at the castle. Apparently, the princess had recruited them to help her plan the balls that would lead up to her wedding. Before they left, Victoria made sure she had pushed me out the door with a small purse of gold coins to go shop for Giselle's present. I wandered the shops near the hotel for the morning. It was not as if I had to buy the present immediately after all. When I did get around to buying her present, I decided on a small bottle of perfume. It was inexpensive and still more than Giselle deserved. I admittedly was slightly afraid of what Victoria would do if I did not follow orders. If I wasn't I wouldn't be following them. I was walking back to the hotel as the sun was setting. There were quite a few people in the square I was walking through so I did not think much of the boy who bumped me until I felt the slight tug of my purse being pulled from my pocket.

"Hey," I shouted to him as he was already darting away. I tried to catch him but it was no use, he was much swifter at navigating the crowd. He turned back and grinned cheekily at me and I glared at him. From the distance all I could see was that he was tall and thin with blonde hair and dark eyes. Then he was gone. I had just been pick-pocketed. In Lyscos we did not have pick-pockets because the town was so small that everyone knew everyone else. I tried telling a soldier who was standing nearby about it but he shrugged me off because there was nothing he could do since the thief was gone.

I trudged back to the hotel. I had lost the money I had; granted it was not much after buying the perfume but the injustice of it being stolen made my stomach churn. Why hadn't the thief gone for the other bag, the one with the perfume? I wouldn't have minded if that was stolen.

* * *

I have encountered an aspect of my writing which makes me question how smoothly my story reads. I was looking back over my story today and I came to the conclusion that my chapters are very short compared to other stories I read on here. There are some stories where just one chapter is almost as long as my whole story and I can't figure out how people do that. I've always had trouble discerning where to draw the chapter line so I decided to keep each chapter to around the same length as all the others. So what do you guys think? Longer chapters which may take longer to write and therefore update or keep the length the same?


	6. Menagerie

As soon I walked in the door, Victoria was waiting. Giselle was on the balcony looking at the town. Victoria jerked her head in her sister's direction. I sighed and joined Giselle on the balcony. I laid the small bottle of perfume on the railing between us and gave her the speech I had prepared on the way home. Victoria was sure to be listening so I had to say exactly what she wanted. "I am very sorry for my behavior these past few days; I should not have lured the prince away from you like I did. I promise that I will not do that anymore because I know how important he is to you."

I was careful that I did not say I would not see him again because that I wouldn't do. Giselle examined her gift and looked at me. "Thank you; make sure it doesn't happen again" Was all she said before flouncing off inside to her room. Victoria seemed appeased because she too went into her room. I sighed and went back inside.

I read one of the books I had brought while the sun made its slow decent below the horizon and it was time for bed. I wondered what other things were in store for me on this trip. It was only the fifth day and I had already made enemies of my stepsisters and made friends with a prince.

The following weeks were very dull with Giselle and Victoria always at the castle. They took the carriage so I could not go very far from the Gilded Leopard and it did not take long for me to become bored with the surrounding area. It was mostly other luxurious hotels and government buildings with a few shops in between. They had also convinced the princess that she needed to have both her brothers at the castle at all times to bond with them before her wedding so I didn't even get to see Christian. It was the first day of the seventh month when things started changing from dull to exciting. Since the celebrations began on the sixth day of this month, the town was packed with people from all over the kingdom who had come. The city was overflowing into the outer city beyond the walls. The gates had been closed for a week because every inn and spare room in Pharyss had been filled with guests and the streets were filled with vendors and entertainment carts that no more people could possibly stay inside the city walls. Even though it had not officially started, people were still in the streets laughing and dancing in anticipation for everything that was to come. Every street and avenue and lane in the city was decorated for the occasion with colorful streamers and flowers. The city was starting to come alive with the excited spirit of all the people. Wandering the streets was no longer a mundane activity because everyone was preparing for the festival. Shop owners were putting their best wares in their front windows. I particularly enjoyed walking by the bakery because they had large, intricate cakes sitting in their window. It was impossible to not share in everyone's excitement; everywhere people were smiling and waving at each other. Some people were even singing as they worked. One of the workers helping hang banners had a lovely baritone voice when he sang.

There was only five days left until the first day of celebration, music filled the streets and rainbows of color were everywhere that I dared venture farther into the city. Before I had only gone two or three streets away from the inn so I wouldn't get lost, but now I decided I wanted an adventure. Giselle and Victoria were off at the castle making friends with royalty, and I was alone in the greatest city in the kingdom. I did not want to stay confined to anywhere so today I set out towards where the zoo was supposed to be. The precious day I had heard some workers talking about how they had seen the large cages with the exotic animals being trundled up to the large, open field and I was going to go see them. I remembered the way from my day with Christian. I had tried to remember the routes to all the places he showed me so I could go to all of them when everything was underway.

It took nearly two hours to get to my destination. It had seemed a much shorter distance when I was on a horse with Christian showing me the way. The field was no longer open; it was crowded with large and small cages holding all manner of creatures with burly men walking about between them. There were dragons, centaurs, phoenixes, elephants, huge colorful birds, tiny will-o-the-wisps, mermaids, tigers, nyads, dryads, sprites, monstrous insects, trolls, and so many more it made my head spin. Most of the animals I had never even seen or heard of before. I walked through the workers and the other townspeople who had also come to get the first look at the zoo. One creature was in something that looked like a house with large barred windows. I almost walked by until I looked again and saw myself staring at me from behind the bars. I gasped and stumbled backwards. The creature looked exactly like me and I could not look away. It was perfect down to the three freckles lined up along the left side of my jaw. Once I was over my initial shock I stepped closer to get a better look.

I felt a hefty hand on my shoulder. "Don't get close to that one, miss. They have a nasty temper."

I turned to face the man. It was one of the workers. Then I looked back to whatever was in the house. "What is it?" I asked. "It looks like me."

The creature's shape shimmered around the edges for a moment. Now it looked like the worker who stood next to me. The impersonation in the cage spoke. Even its voice matched the man's. "I am a mockery. I am a noble creature from the southern jungles of Conan. These cruel men captured me and took me from my home to be put on display like a trophy. I am very frightened and I just want to go home. Please, gentle lady, release me and I can go on my way."

I the middle of its answer it shimmered back to look like me and it was my voice that finished. I looked at the man and he shook his head. "Mockeries have no conscience, if left in the wild they cause devastation wherever they go. As you can imagine it is easy for them to disguise themselves and go on murdering sprees in some unsuspecting village."

"And you brought one here?" I said. I was astounded that they would bring something so dangerous into the heart of the city. If mockeries could impersonate anyone than if it escaped it would destroy the town.

The man smiled. "Don't you worry, that beast is kept locked up good and tight in that prison. The walls and bars are coated in pure silver. Mockeries can't touch silver. It's something to do with the heat conductivity; it burns their skin like a hot poker would burn yours."

The man walked away to do his work, but I was still unsure about the mockery so quickly left it behind as I went to see the other animals. There was a commotion and I saw a small dragon fly into the air before the men pulled it back down by a chain tied around its neck. The roars could be heard all over the field. I looked at other animals and after not too long I felt as though I was being followed, but when I looked behind me no one was there. I sped up and took more turns through the maze of animals but I could not shake the feeling of someone behind me. Then I heard laughing, it was more like giggling from behind me. I spun around and was face to face with a boy and a girl. The boy was a few years older than the girl and she could not have been more than thirteen annuals.

"Why are you following me?" I demanded.

The girl giggled and the boy stuck his tongue out at me. "Why shouldn't we follow you?"

It was obvious that they came from a very wealthy family for their clothes, though a bit dirty, were of the finest fabric. They also had the haughty air of children raised in a home where they had all the privilege that money had to offer. I would not stand for their nonsense no matter their rank. "It is not in good taste to stalk people and you two should be more considerate."

The boy stuck out his chin indignantly. Obviously, they were not used to getting told off by strangers. "We were not stalking you. We were only trying to get a better look at you to see what you looked like."

I tapped my foot impatiently. "That's the same thing. Don't you have someone looking after you?"

They looked at each other. "No," They said in unison.

They were obviously lying. Two children of such breeding would not be allowed to wander alone. "Don't lie to me, where are your parents?"

The girl giggled. "Mommy and daddy aren't here."

"You know, I think it is her. I didn't think she would be so bossy though." The boy crossed his arms and examined me. It made me uncomfortable.

"What are you two talking about?"

The boy began trying to circle me, but I backed up and kept an eye on him. The pair of them looked too shifty. "You just look like someone Ian mentioned a couple of times."

"Yeah, our brother talks about you all the time. I mean, I'm guessing it's you. Don't you think it's her, Curt? You look just like what he described. What if you aren't the girl that my brother was talking about? How funny for you then. So do you like our brother, he's completely in love with you. He goes on and on all day about how he misses you and how he wants to see you again. He of course is stuck at home again cause they practically have him bolted to our sister, she's getting married you know. I don't know if I like her fiancée though but I guess he's decent enough…" The girl spoke quickly and seemingly in one long sentence until the boy hit her with his elbow.

"Shush, Clover," He said. It was then that I noticed a royal signet ring on each of their fingers. What the girl had been saying made sense now. They were Prince Curtis and Princess Clover. Once I had that figured out I began to think about what she said, Christian was talking about me?

Princess Clover hit her brother back, "Don't tell me to shush, you need to shush."

It looked as if they were going to get in a fight when a small red light flew around one of the animal cages and straight to them. It was a red fairy and about the size of my thumb, but it had a big voice when it began scolding the two. "Now you listen here, your mother said that you could come out here and see the animals if you behaved. That means that you stay with me and not go running off. You will be severely punished for tricking me to going into that lion's cage when we get home. These workers don't need you two running around causing trouble and leave this poor girl alone."

"We do not cause trouble!" Curtis and Clover said at the exact same time.

The little fairy became even redder. "Don't you dare back talk me, you terrors. Just wait until your father hears about this."

"You don't have to tell daddy!" Clover exclaimed and her brother chimed in with his pleas to not let the king know of their doings.

I didn't want to interrupt their scolding or argument, whichever it was, but I wanted to know how Christian was doing and when I would be able to see him again. "Excuse me," They all stopped shouting and looked at me. "You are Prince Christian's brother and sister, correct?"

Princess Clover hit her brother. "See I told you it was the right girl."

The young prince in turn stuck out his tongue at his sister. The little fairy hovered in front of my face. "This is Prince Curtis and Princess Clover. I am Crimson, their nurse fairy. I apologize for any bother they may have caused you."

"Oh, it's no bother at all. I was actually wondering," I stumbled on my words a bit before asking my question. "I was wondering how Prince Christian was doing. I have not seen him in quite some time."

Clover crowed at Curtis, "Ha, I told you they were in love, now pay up!"

"She didn't say they were in love!" Curtis retorted.

"Hush, you two," Crimson said sharply. It seemed like the little fairy had her hands full keeping an eye on these two. "Now, my dear, Christian is doing quite well; he is helping his sister prepare for her wedding as you surely know. She has found two very kind women who are helping her with it all. If you are Ebony, he is missing you too. Poor boy cannot get away from Joslynn now that she has decided he will be part of the ceremony. I'm sure whenever he gets a spare moment he will want to visit you. Now we must be returning to the castle, these two have had enough of an outing for today."

Curtis and Clover immediately started protesting that they had not seen all the animals yet, but Crimson was having none of it. She flitted around their heads as they walked back in the direction of the castle. I assumed there was a carriage waiting to take them back. I walked on and reflected on my brief but strange meeting with the two youngest of the royal family. First Clover asking me if I loved her brother then Crimson scolding them and taking them home. It was very strange. After the short conversation, my mind was on Christian. I had only spent little more than a day with him but I still wished I could have seen him more. His sister was keeping him in the castle and my stepsisters would never permit me to accompany them to the castle for a day. I just hoped that once the celebration began that he would be allowed to leave the castle once in awhile; surely they would let him then. Imagine, me spending time with a prince; I smiled at the thought.

I continued my aimless stroll through the garden of animals when a beautiful bird crossed my path. I noticed that the area that I was in was filled with the creatures just wandering as aimlessly as I was. They looked like peacocks except they all had varying degrees of snowy white feathers mixed with the blues and the greens. Some where almost all white while others looked almost normal. One that was almost half white and half normal strolled right in front of me, his long tail feathers brushing my feet. They did not seem to be afraid of people so I slowly crouched down and held my hand out to the bird. It turned to look at me for a moment but then continued on its way. I lowered my arm but stayed crouched down. I had caught the attention of another one of the birds and it was slowly making its way over to me. The bird was one that was half white; it almost looked as if it had been splashed with paint. It came right up to my hand and started nudging his head against my fingers.

"Hey," Someone shouted. "Don't touch the animals!"

I jumped, startled, and the bird nipped my finger with its beak. A single drop of red blood appeared from the small wound. I stood up and the bird flapped noisily away. It must have been one of the workers who had shouted at me because there was a group of three that were glaring at me. It appeared as if they might have been the bird keepers. I could even feel their glares as I hurried away. There were so many strange creatures here. I had barely seen half of them all before the time I had to start walking back to the hotel. I wanted to return before dark to avoid whatever might lurk in the streets at nighttime. The walk back was just as long as the walk there, maybe longer due to my entire day of walking. Despite the distance I did make it back before the sun sank completely below the horizon. A few minutes after the sun set, I could hear the fireworks going off. There were five more days until the city would come alive with parties and entertainment.

* * *

Yay, new characters! What do you all think of the youngest prince and princess? I think I will have a lot of fun with them as the story progresses because I foresee them causing trouble and pulling pranks.

It has been a dreadfully long time since I have updated this story, or even written any of it for that matter. I have been a wretched author and have not even been responding to my PMs! Hopefully that will all change now that I seem to have gotten out of my only-watch-tv-all-the-time stint and back into reading fanfiction which makes me want to write fanfiction.


	7. Ojera

"Wake up!" Giselle sang as she tugged rather forcefully on my arm. "Wake up, up, up; today is a big day for us."

When I didn't immediately comply with Giselle and her enthusiastic pulling, Victoria decided to join in as well and grabbed my other arm. "Get up, we have to go; now, Ebony!"

With both of them tugging at me, it wasn't long until they had pulled me out of my bed and onto the floor. The fall woke me up completely and I sat rubbing the elbow I had landed on. "Aren't you going to the castle today?" I asked. The sun had not even fully risen and they were dragging me out of bed for something they thought was urgent.

As soon as I was dumped on the floor Victoria walked off back into her room saying she was going to finish getting ready. Giselle was already dressed with her hair up and face painted. She was nearly bouncing where she stood and her smile reached across her entire face. I could only think of two things that would make them this excited: either a prince had proposed or we were going shopping. It was the latter as Giselle loudly proclaimed when I asked why they had woke me up. Today they were going to browse the grand shops in the king's city. Giselle pulled me to my feet and then proceeded to push me into getting ready. I could not go fast enough for her, never mind that it was not only me who was not ready but Victoria as well. Giselle kept worrying over how slow I was going and how there would be no time to shop at this rate. Even after I was dressed and washed and ready to go, Victoria was still sitting at her vanity doing her hair. After she had made sure that I was ready and waiting, Giselle went over to help her sister.

I slumped in the three person chair to wait. It was obvious that I was going shopping too. I had only gone shopping with them once because it was so horrible that I never wanted to go through that again. It was three annuals ago; my mother had insisted that we all go together. It was after my mother had all but given up on me becoming like my stepsisters and she used the shopping trip as a last effort to make me like she wanted me to be. Since I did not enjoy doing the things Giselle and Victoria did, I had not gotten to know them exceedingly well and on the shopping trip I saw a side of them I had never seen before. When they were with suitors, they were all charm and grace. When they were with their father, they were childish and silly. When they were with my mother, they gossiped and talked of clothes. But in the shops with the shop girls, they were cruel and malicious. If a shop girl wasn't fast enough on getting what they wanted they would shout about how useless she was and complain to the shop owner. If a tailor stuck them with a pin on accident, they would lash out with feet and fists. If another girl was looking at something they liked, they would violently shove her aside. They continued this behavior in every shop we went to that day. My mother simply turned a blind eye to it all and acted as if it were all completely normal. All the tailors and shop girls avoided the pair as best as they could without getting in trouble with the owner of the shop. I did my best to hang back and stay out of Giselle and Victoria's way and they forgot I was there after a while. I remained quiet and watched in awe at how horrible they were to anyone who didn't do things exactly as they wanted.

After three annuals, I did not think their way of shopping could have improved much so I looked for any way to get out of going. "Why must I join you shopping?" I asked. "Wouldn't it be much more fun if you two went together without me?"

Victoria stood up from her vanity. They had finally gotten her hair the way she wanted it. "Nonsense, we want to spend time with our little sister."

Giselle picked up a light green shawl and draped it across her arms. Victoria already wore a matching red one. "There will be more hands to carry the packages."

The two sisters linked arms with me so there could be no way I could refuse to go without physical violence. I should have known I was going to act as their servant. Perhaps I could slip out after the first store somehow and leave them to their shopping while I wandered the town. This was my plan as we entered the carriage and rattled away. I would wait until they were inspecting some gown and sneak out the door. By the time they noticed I would be long gone in the bustle of the streets. They probably wanted to shop on Lilac Avenue; it was a street Christian had showed me that was lined with nothing but fancy shops and boutiques. I knew my way back to the Gilded Leopard from there so I could just walk back before night fall. I thought my plan was foolproof for a little while, and then I noticed that we were going much farther than Lilac Avenue. Victoria said that the princess had told them about a small district that was devoted to making the finest wares in the realm. The district was in the East End, which I had never visited before. It was on the opposite side of the castle from the Gilded Leopard and there was no chance that I could possibly walk across the entire city in one day. It took me two hours to walk to the menagerie the other day and that was on the same side of the plateau as the inn. It seemed like I was going to have to endure shopping; my only hope was that I could remain unnoticed like I did when I was sixteen.

The first shop was a massive shop that had two levels. The ground floor was where all the beautiful gowns, shoes, and jewelry were kept. On the second floor, which was basically a balcony that encircled the first, a woman could get her new dress fitted to her personally or take measurements for a new one. Apparently Giselle and Victoria were not the only ones who had the idea of shopping today. When we arrived the store was quite crowded already. There must have been at least fifty shop workers to attend to all the people. Everywhere women were talking about fashion and the upcoming events that were going to be taking place. Immediately Giselle and Victoria were in their element. Each walked purposefully to the first worker they saw and demanded their help; it did not matter if that worker was already with another customer. Since they had both walked away, this left me to begin being invisible. I was sure they would find me again when they needed boxes to be carried, but for now I could look around in peace.

The quality of every dress was exquisite. I heard almost every person exclaim at the artistry of fairy clothes. It appeared as if everything in the shop was fairy made which meant not only was it of the highest quality, but everything was laced with magic. I was sure that none of these dresses would ever get stains or tears and would stay pristine over many, many years. There was hardly any fairy crafted items in Lyscos, but here there seemed to be no shortage. Even though fairy made items were everywhere, it did not seem to lower the cost one bit. Every dress was worth at least four times what it would be if it were made by human hands. I hoped Giselle and Victoria had brought a lot of money with them if they planned to buy anything here. I knew that I would not spend my money on anything from this shop. I did not need a dress this fancy. I had brought a few gowns from home that would suffice for the time being. It was still nice to look at the glamorous gowns though.

I slowly walked through the dress displays until I neared the back of the shop. I was not the only girl in the back. There was an entire crowd gathered at the back. I could see the blonde head of Giselle and the red head of Victoria right at the very front. All the girls were looking at a gown that was raised up on a platform. It was by far the most beautiful dress in the shop, possibly in entire the city. It was a deep sapphire blue with diamonds sewn into the bodice, but that was not what made the dress incredible. The material the dress was made out of seemed to sparkle like stars and flow like water. Anyone girl who was fortunate enough to wear such a gown would be instantly transformed into a graceful, ethereal creature that would be the center of attention anywhere. I joined the crowd of awestruck girls who gazed upon it. My mouth hung open as the fabric stirred slightly around the mannequin. Even the lifeless dummy seemed to be slightly dancing on its pedestal.

"I want it!" I head Giselle shout from the front of the crowd. "How much is it? Where is that useless shopkeeper, I want this dress and I will not leave here until I have it!"

She drew the attention of a shop girl when she started to try and take the dress from the mannequin. She also drew the attention of another girl who was in the front of the crowd. I did not have a good view of them until the other girls started backing up from what seemed to be the start of a fight. I managed my way to the edge of the circle that had formed around the two and the shop girl. The shop girl was trying to explain something to the two customers but could not be heard. Victoria stood next to her sister of course, but the other looked formidable enough to give both of them a good trouncing. The other girl was harshly beautiful. Her face was angular and sharp. Her hair was pulled strictly back from her face in a complicated braid. She stood perfectly straight as if she had an iron rod in her back. Her demeanor and dress revealed that she was a very important person in Pharyss. I think it was the first time I had seen someone look down upon Giselle and Victoria as if they were just like anyone else.

"This dress is mine," The woman said stiffly, as if she could hardly stand to look at my stepsisters. "I am the Duchess Ojera of Featherstone in Adellia, daughter of the honorable Chester the Valiant and Francine the Gracious. I have come from Adellia as a sign of good faith between our two nations and you will not fight me for this dress or you shall find yourself in the stocks by nightfall."

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Whoa that chapter took no time at all! Bit of drama at the end, it seems not everyone is impressed by the stepsisters. Hope you all are still enjoying the story. I love feedback either good or bad. I really like talking to you guys; you're all pretty cool. So yeah, that was the new chapter, posted at lightning speed, ka-chow!


	8. A Romantic Tale

I gasped. Adellia was the kingdom of the sea. It was a series of islands off the south coast of Tarahan. I had heard that ambassadors came from all the surrounding kingdoms but I never thought I had the chance to see one personally, especially not an Adellian one. Adellia was possibly the most powerful kingdom in the region for they not only controlled cities on land but also had cities underwater. The sub aquatic cities made their kingdom the largest; I heard they even had cities as far as the western border of Ghant. My stepsisters were about to take on the Duchess of Adellia.

"You think you are so important because you are from some foreign land," Victoria spat.

Her words were closely followed by Giselle's, "You won't get me to back down and I already claimed this gown fairly."

The duchess simply raised one thin eyebrow, "You are nothing more than a spoiled brat who thinks she is entitled to everything. You've probably never been told no in your entire life. This gown is mine and there is nothing you can do about it, so run along or I will have you arrested."

Duchess Ojera was right, Giselle and Victoria had never been told no, but I thought arresting them was a bit drastic for a gown. The sisters were practically fuming now. Giselle's dainty hands were clenched into fists and her face was very red. Victoria took a step toward the duchess and raised a finger, "Why you arrogant little-"

Thankfully, before she could finish her sentence and get into more trouble, the shop girl broke in. "Neither of you can have it," She said. I thought the three women would rip the poor girl apart right then and there, but she quickly continued. "This dress was made especially for the Princess Joslynn to wear at the first ball of the celebration. It is the first in a collection made solely for her. If you like I can direct you to other gowns that are available for purchase."

The duchess simply nodded and turned back to her handmaids. Giselle and Victoria raised their noses in the air and turned to walk in the opposite direction. Both were proclaiming loudly about what a terrible shop this was and how they would never be coming here again. I tried to disappear back into the crowd before they noticed me, but I couldn't. They spotted me and barked that I pick up the pile of boxes they had laid down and follow them out to the carriage. I obeyed and tried to avoid the pitying stares of the other women. Perhaps if I was lucky, I would never run into any of them again. If I did the women would most certainly inquire into my stepsisters and probably think me a poor servant girl. I did not want prying questions from people who simply wanted something else to gossip about.

Giselle was so upset in the carriage after we left the shop that Victoria suggested that we visit a little café that Joslynn had told them about. It was near the shop and seemed to be just as fancy. Victoria told me that it would be best if I waited in the carriage while they went in and treated themselves. I argued the point, but she wouldn't relent. She seemed loathe to even have me along for their outing, but they wanted someone to fetch and carry for them.

"I do not want to wait in the carriage like some servant!" I said when Giselle had climbed out and Victoria had issued her order.

She looked me straight in the eye as she answered. "You are not a servant, Ebony. However I am getting very tired of your attitude on this trip. I am the oldest so you are required to do as I say or else I will send you home before the party even begins. Now you stay here and don't go wandering off because if you are not here when we get back, we will leave you behind to find your own way back to the Gilded Leopard. I don't want to hear any more of your lip the rest of the day."

I crossed my arms defiantly; she was still blocking the entrance and exit to the carriage. "You can't send me home; I am not a child."

She just sneered. "I can send you home at any point I wish and there is nothing you can do about it."

Victoria climbed out of the carriage and slammed the door for emphasis. I considered following them and disobeying her, but I didn't want to risk being sent back before I had gotten to experience anything. I was sure that my mother had said something to Victoria about taking care of us before we had left and that meant I could be sent back. I couldn't even leave the carriage for they might return while I was out and leave me stranded in an unfamiliar part of the city. I crossed my arms and slumped back into the seat. I wish I had gotten them to leave me behind while they went on this little trip of theirs. Staying at the hotel alone would have been better than spending the day with those two. They spent almost half an hour in the café before they returned to the carriage. When they did, they were giggling together and had linked arms. They completely ignored me as they settled themselves into the other carriage seat. Giselle was still holding a delicate cookie in one hand that she was nibbling on between whispered giggles. They seemed to think themselves very grand sitting there as we traveled to the next destination.

The next stop turned out to be a fairy spa. This district was evidently populated by fairy shops and businesses. The sisters allowed me to come in with them at the spa, even though they said that the treatments were too expensive to pay for three so I would have to just watch. It was nicer in the spa than it was in the carriage. I could smell the lotions and soaps that were used and the atmosphere was much more placid and comfortable. Since I was not partaking in what the spa had to offer, I was forced to sit in the spacious waiting area. The walls were lined with plush chairs and couches. In the center of the room was a stone pool with water lilies floating on the surface. I went to the edge to get a better look and I could see the black, orange, and white fish swimming languidly through the water. When I sat down there was a small carved table with thin books spread out across it. I picked up one of them, it was a fairy story. Since it was a fairy book, the pictures moved on the page as I read. I had read almost all of the books on that table and all the others by the time Giselle and Victoria came back. The sun had set already and I was hungry from not eating all day. They looked even more radiant after all the fairy beautification they had gotten. Their skin literally glowed slightly and their hair shone. After they had they had gotten dressed again in their gowns, it was decided that it was time to return to the hotel.

At the hotel we took dinner in the grand hall. Fortunately we had not missed it and arrived only a few minutes into the second course. Giselle and Victoria sat away from me and were instantly popular among the other guests that were also eating dinner. True to themselves, they were nothing but charm and grace. One would have never guessed that it was the same two girls who had assaulted shop girls and argued with a duchess earlier this same day. I for one, was happy to get at least a little respite from them. I got to eat my meal in peace since they were distracted by everyone else. No one paid much attention to me. The guests who were not talking to Victoria and Giselle were talking quietly to the people who sat around them. I sat next to an older couple who were talking about the last Pharyss celebration and what they expected from the upcoming one. I listened to a bit of their conversation. They spoke of the splendid balls and the tournaments that were held, both of which I had already heard of. Then they reminisced of how they had met at the last grand ball of the celebration. It was a romantic story. They had seen each other at various events during the course of their time in Pharyss but neither had the courage to speak to the other until that final night. He recalled how beautiful she looked in her sunflower yellow gown and how nervous he was when he asked her to dance. She recalled that as soon as the dance was over she knew that she loved him and wanted to be his wife. They had been married soon after and had lived happily to this day. I could only hope that someday I could be loved as much as they loved each other. After the dinner they left hand in hand still talking about the happy times they had together since that final celebration ball.

As I passed the front desk on my way back to my room, the woman there stopped me and held out a green envelope that reminded me of the room we were staying in. "This arrived for you today, miss. The messenger said it was important that it was delivered before tomorrow."

I took the message and thanked her. I had no idea why anyone would send a message to me so late at night that was so important it could not wait another day. Perhaps it had been delivered earlier in the afternoon and I was not here to receive it because I was out shopping with Giselle and Victoria. I decided that must be the case. I thought that possibly it could have been a message from mother, but she would sooner send Giselle or Victoria a message. I turned the envelope over. An insignia was pressed into a seal of gold colored wax. It looked prestigious and I thought I knew who had sent it. There was only one person I could think of that would know the color of the room I was staying in and want to send me a message – the Prince. I did my best not to rip the envelope apart in my haste to get to the paper inside. My heart was beating excitedly; the prince had sent me a personal letter. I could scarcely read the words fast enough on the way back to the Crocodile Room. I walked slowly because I was so engrossed in the message. It was written in very neat handwriting that I imagined belonged to Christian. I pictured him sitting at a desk penning his words specifically for me. That meant he was thinking about me; a thought that made me practically skip with joy.

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Whoa a new chapter! In almost less than a day! I'm picking up momentum now.

Status update on the story as a whole: Tonight I took the time to organize all the random ideas I have been compiling into an actual timeline instead of random thoughts. This lead to even more ideas and almost half of the story just coming out. Unfortunately, it is the second half of the story so I just have to get there and then no more writer's block until the very end. But do not worry! I have also filled out the beginning as well (just not as much). So the whole planning bit has greatly decreased the chances of me going of on some stupid story line and getting tired of the story. As an added bonus it is also winter break soon and you all know what that means! More time for writing! I'm super super excited about the ending because I think it is perfect and I hope you guys will love it too. When I saved the timeline though it very nearly deleted everything I almost had a heart attack so now I saved everything a couple of times in different places to avoid that ever happening. The end is going to be a long time coming so I hope I can keep you entertained until then cause it's gonna be good!


	9. Fight

The letter read:

Dear Lady Ebony Valix of Lyscos,

It has been far too long since I last saw your lovely face. My dear sister has been so busy preparing for her upcoming event that she has enlisted me to help take on some of the burden. I have been so preoccupied that time seemed to slip by so quickly and before I knew it nearly two months have passed. It was my younger siblings who brought to my attention how busy I had been. I had previously spoken to them about you, it seems that since I couldn't get away to see you my mouth could speak of nothing else. So when the pair returned from their outing saying they had met you my heart longed for your company. My sister has agreed to give me a very special task that I would like you to accompany me on. I will not tell you what this task is only that I think you will enjoy it very much. Joslynn has informed me that she has told your two sisters that this final week they should spend enjoying the city before the celebration begins. She feels she has been taking too much of their time away and has told them to not return to the castleuntil the first ball which will take place on the first day of next week, the first day of celebration. Even though she has told them to enjoy the sights our city has to offer, I hope that you still feel willing to join me at the castle tomorrow. I even have a carriage arranged to bring you here so that Giselle and Victoria may still use yours to travel the city. I hope that you will come and see me at the castle tomorrow; I am so looking forward to showing you my surprise. If you are as eager to see me as I am you, then I look forward to your arrival. The carriage will arrive at the Gilded Leopard at ten o'clock in the morning to escort you to the castle where I will be waiting.

Awaiting your arrival,

Prince Christian Alexander Delancy

I was so shocked by the contents of the letter that I read it three times over before I got to the room. The prince seemed to be very fond of me, even after such a short time. I felt similarly and did not know how I would sleep tonight because of my excitement. The prince had missed me. _The prince had missed me!_ I opened to door to the room with one hand while the other clutched the letter to my chest. I sighed happily and sat in one of the three back-to-back seats. I reread the letter a fourth time.

Giselle and Victoria returned a few minutes later. Giselle yawned and went straight into her room and closed the door. Victoria was more observant and noticed that I had a letter. Normally she probably wouldn't have cared about a letter for me except that I was grinning like a fool. Her quick mind probably guessed at the letter's writer as I had. "What is that?" She asked, stepping closer and trying to read the paper.

I quickly folded the paper and tried to dismiss it as something of little importance. My casualness did not fool her though and my quick reaction of hiding it from her made her even more suspicious. "It's not from the prince, is it? You know how cruel that is to hurt poor Elle's feeling in this way. You promised that you would leave the poor prince alone for her sake."

I gnashed my teeth together in annoyance. Victoria would do anything to keep me and Christian apart, but I wouldn't let her. "I never said it was from the prince. Even if it was, you have no right to tell me who I can or can't see."

"You wretched girl," Victoria said. Her brow furrowed and she snatched the paper away from me. I tried to get it back but she turned and elbowed me away. She had become skilled at fighting people back from all her years of violent shopping. "You horrible minx, what have you done to the poor man? My dear sister will be devastated and mother will be so hurt by your selfish actions. I'm afraid I must forbid you to go to the castle tomorrow. In fact you are not allowed to even leave this room. You can forget about seeing the prince tomorrow. Elle and I might be away from the castle for a short time but that does not mean you can replace us there."

I crossed my arms defiantly. Now that I knew that Christian had at least some feelings for me I would not be deterred from seeing him. "I wouldn't be replacing you. I'm going to see the prince; you only spent time with the princess."

Victoria's face was getting red. I was not supposed to talk back to her, no one ever did. She was so accustomed to getting her own way that she seemed to not understand someone who was so openly disagreeing with her. "Listen here, you little wretch, we have been joined by Prince Christian for the past several weeks at the castle. He has spent time with us nearly every day we were visiting at the castle. You are imagining that he wants to see you and not Elle."

I barked out a laugh. "I'm not the one who is disillusioned here. You read the letter, he wants to see me; he only ever saw you at the castle because his sister asked him to. Why can't you just accept that maybe he prefers my company to yours?"

She looked absolutely murderous now. Her beautiful face was twisted with anger. Upon seeing her like this, I debated on whether or not I should back down and let her have her way; I had seen what she could do to some nameless girl at a shop. I decided that I would not let her win this time. I had spent too much of my life trying to stay out of their way, but now they were in my way. I truly felt the prince and I could become close friends or even more, and I would never let them take that away from me. I did not know what I would have to face if I stood up to them, but I felt that the prince was worth it.

Victoria dropped the paper and envelope on the ground. "Because it's not true," She snapped and stomped off to her room, slamming the door behind her.

I felt I had won the argument; after all it was not me that stormed off. I bent to pick up the letter and smoothed the wrinkles out of it. I read it one more time before I changed for bed, then I tucked it away deep in one of my bags so neither Giselle nor Victoria could find it. Since it was almost certain that Victoria would not allow me into her room to use the bath, I hoped that I could bathe tomorrow after they left. I was counting on the fact that they would leave at the same time they did yesterday which was around seven o'clock. If they did I would have more than enough time to get ready in peace.

When morning came it was obvious that the argument was not over. Since Victoria knew about my plans with the prince she wanted to do everything she could to make sure it didn't happen. That started with telling Giselle. Victoria went to Giselle's room and closed the door so they could have a private conversation. However, I knew that Victoria was informing Giselle of the letter and trying to enlist her help to stop me from going. While they were in there with the door closed, I took my chance in the washroom. As quickly as I could, I bathed in the marble tub and combed my wet hair with the elegant gold combs the Gilded Leopard provided for their guests. I was not fast enough and Victoria and Giselle stormed in on me when I was carefully brushing my hair. Victoria snatched the brush from my hand and together they herded me into the sitting room. I could see that Giselle had been crying; she seemed to cry at everything prince related. Both of them were talking to me at once; Victoria was forceful and harsh while her sister was nearly begging me not to go. Then Victoria demanded for the letter so her sister could read it. I crossed my arms and adamantly stuck out my chin. There was no way either of them was getting their greedy hands on my letter from the prince. I glanced at the clock that hung on the wall. I still had an hour before the prince's carriage was scheduled to arrive. I pondered what I could do in an hour, and then I came up with a risky plan.

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So yup, there was that chapter. Will Victoria stop Ebony from seeing the prince? You'll just have to wait and find out!


	10. Ebony's Plan

I uncrossed my arms and lowered my head in defeat. "You are right; I should not be associating with Christian. I am so glad that I have good sisters like you to look after me. Perhaps, we can all go dine in the dining hall for breakfast."

Giselle wiped her nose on a delicate lace handkerchief, "I am hungry, Tori. Perhaps we can go eat and forget this whole business."

Victoria was examining me. I tried to look as innocent as possible in hopes she wouldn't suspect my real plan. Perhaps if I made them believe I truly was going to go along with what they wanted they would let their guard down and I could slip past them. "Fine, we all will go have breakfast downstairs. But don't you think that I will let you out of my sight for a moment, Miss Ebony. You will sit between Elle and me and will not go anywhere."

Giselle nodded and went into her room to get ready. I was not fully dressed and neither was Victoria. I was hoping that she would leave me alone to go change in her room so I could sneak out while she was not looking. She suspected this though and pulled me by my wrist into her room. She made me act as her lady in waiting and help her wash and dress. I went along with her, still hoping that I could somehow get away. I fixed her hair and tightened her corset. When she deemed herself presentable she allowed me to get ready. She had me take my clothes into the washroom while she sat on her bed facing me. There was no way I could sneak past her and soon Giselle joined her sister on the bed. I got dressed and hoped I would have a chance to escape during breakfast. Surely surrounded by the other guests they would not force me to stay.

I walked to the dining hall with a stepsister on each arm. Victoria obviously thought I would make a dash for it on the way to breakfast she and Giselle both linked their arms with mine. I tried to act as if I believed it was a sign of good faith and friendship like Giselle said, but I knew better. At the dining table I sat between them while a few of their friends for the previous night sat around us. Everyone ignored me as they ate their breakfast. It was just as it had been last night; Victoria and Giselle were the center of attention and were loved by all. The only difference was that I was forced to sit near them and be ignored than sit on the opposite end of the table and eat in peace. They laughed girlishly at the jokes others made and Giselle seemed to have taking quite a liking to a handsome young man that sat across the table from her. I looked at the clock that stood in the corner; the little hand pointed directly at the ten as it chimed out the hour. I mumbled to be excused and tried to stand up but Victoria grabbed my wrist under the table and yanked me back into my seat. I stared dejectedly at my almost empty plate. No one had noticed. There was only one other time that she had physically forced me to do as she wanted. I had fought back and hit her. She immediately began crying and told everyone I had maliciously attacked her. I tried to protest, but no one would believe me. It was the ugly duckling's word against one of the town's most beloved members. I knew she was already popular with the guests at the inn and I was sure if I tried anything she would do the same as she did back then. It seemed that I would not be able to get away from her today.

"Oh, Jack," Giselle said to the man across the table from her. "You tell the most wonderful tales. I hope one day I will be able to join you in the Iron Mountains so I can see for myself the wonders that you speak of."

The man smiled and two dimples formed on his cheeks. His smile made him look nice, not at all someone who would get along with Giselle's real personality. I pitied him for his bad fortune of meeting my step sister. If he was as kind as he looked, he deserved someone equally as kind. "Perhaps when the celebrations are over, you and I might travel to my home in the mountains and I can show you the wonders myself."

Giselle blushed and grinned at him shyly as I had seen her do dozens of times before with dozens of men. She probably wouldn't even remember his name in a week. I watched them flirt for another five minutes thinking about how I should be on my way to the castle now where I could be with the prince and see the surprise he had for me. I wondered what it could be. He said his sister had given him a task so I assumed it was something to do with her wedding celebration. After all he had showed me on that first day, I wondered what other amazing things were in store for this coming month. On my other side Victoria was talking to her own man who sat to her right. Her hand was still clutching my wrist tightly. The man she spoke to was just as handsome as Jack, but he didn't have Jack's boyish dimples when he smiled. Ten minutes past the hour, the carriage was probably waiting outside for me and I couldn't get away.

The doors to the dining hall opened and everyone turned to see who had entered. It was a man in a white uniform under a golden waistcoat. He wore white gloves on his hands that were sternly placed at his side in the manner of a servant. He must have been the servant of someone very important to wear such a nice uniform. His hair and mustache were nearly the same color as the waistcoat he wore. He was a very impressive figure for a servant. Victoria and Giselle gasped like they had seen him before. Victoria's grip on my arm tightened and I could feel her nails digging into my skin. All my attempts to free my wrist only made her grip tighter. I could not believe how strong she was. I examined the man closer; he must have been from the castle. Surely they must have seen royal drivers at the castle and recognized him. He must be here for me, I thought. Giselle and Victoria were not going to the castle this week. Then I looked around at the other faces in the room. Of course he could be here for any one of them as well; everyone here was a friend of someone in the castle. They should all have their own carriages to travel to the castle though, so perhaps it was for me. Victoria's grip on my arm was excruciating now as the man announced himself.

"The carriage has arrived for Miss Ebony of Lyscos." He said loudly to everyone in the room. He also looked directly at me and everyone else in the room followed his gaze. I wanted to stand but Victoria still held my wrist.

Victoria and Giselle were not the only ones who recognized a royal servant. A large woman who sat on the opposite side of the table and down a ways waved her fork at me. When she spoke her many chins wobbled, "Now don't just sit there, girl. When royalty sends a carriage for you, you get in it and go to the castle."

Her words raised a murmur of agreement and a few other people told me I should not be rude to the man and go with him. "Oh, no, my dear sister cannot go to the castle today." Victoria choked out, but she knew she was outnumbered. Giselle was staring longingly at Jack, but her many glances at me and the royal servant told me that she was paying very close attention to the rest of the room.

"Nonsense," Said an old man with a monocle in his eye. "One does not simply turn down the royal family. It is not done. Back in my day the youth had more respect for their rulers. Why I remember the last celebration in this city my sister was summoned by the royal family and she went straight away without hesitation. That was the proper attitude. Now stand up girl and go with the man."

I looked at Victoria. She held me a moment longer and then let go. She knew she had lost today; I would go to the castle and see the prince. I couldn't help but give her a triumphant smile and I could tell she was trying her best not to lash out at me in some way. She couldn't do anything with all these people about. I stood up and apologized for my rudeness. I followed the man to the lavish white carriage that sat just past the wide stone steps. He opened the door for me and helped me into the carriage. I gasped at what I saw; I was not the only one in the carriage. Prince Christian was smiling at me from the seat. I sat down next to him.

"I almost thought you weren't going to come. So I sent Augustus in to find you. I told him to not take no for an answer." The prince said as the carriage pulled away.

"I would not have said no." I said. I rubbed my wrist tenderly. It was still throbbing a bit and the nail marks were noticeable on the bottom. "I apologize for keeping you waiting."

"You are here now. You are going to love your surprise, I'm sure. When we arrive at the castle I will take you to the hall of pictures and then we can…what happened to your wrist?" He cut off as he noticed the hand mark on my wrist. He slowly reached out and examined my skin. Gently he ran his finger over the crescent shaped nail marks. All the pain seemed to go away at the touch of his hand.

As much as I didn't want to I pulled my arm away. "It's nothing." I said quickly. He did not need to know about Victoria's treatment of me. "It got caught in my sleeve this morning and the buttons dug into my skin."

I winced at my lie. The prince glanced at the dress I was wearing. It was light green with lace running along the bodice and not a button anywhere. I'm sure he noticed this and knew that the mark on my hand was not from my dress but he did not inquire further.

* * *

So this last chapter just kind of wrote itself. I was kind of off writing for a few days then when I sat back down to it again it all just flowed. Bit exciting. I would like to thank you all for sticking it out this far. Chapter 10 is the farthest I've ever gotten on a story and I'm only getting started!


	11. At the Palace

"So, what is the hall of pictures?" I asked. I wanted to fill the awkward silence that had fallen after my thin lie.

Christian's smile spread across his face showing many of his white teeth. "You're going to love it. It's a special treat for the highest society. It was a gift from the high lord of the fairies over a hundred years ago when our peace treaty was first established."

I was amazed that I would have the honor of seeing such an important part of the kingdom's history. When peace was established between Finarca, the sky kingdom of the fairies, and Lantine it began what is called the kingdom's Golden Age. Finarca is only at peace with three of the seven nations, making those three the most powerful. Before the first peace treaty was established with the northern kingdom of Mekt, the fairies rarely had any dealings in the seven kingdoms. In school I learned about how the Mektous first came into contact with the Finarcans. I was always fascinated by this section in the history books. The Mektous call the story of how one of their own made it to Finarca the Legend of the Great Flight. In Mekt, all the people are also part animal, so when an Aves took to the sky and flew all the way to Finarca it was a monumental achievement. Such direct contact with the fairies gave the Mektous unequalled power with the fairy made items they were able to acquire from the sky. Even over the two hundred years that have passed since the Great Flight, Mekt still maintains the strongest bond with the fairies. It was another seventy five years before Adellia signed a peace treaty with the Finarcans, making Lantine the third and final kingdom to have contact with the sky. Ever since the treaty was signed, Lantine has flourished. While fairy made items are not as ubiquitous in this kingdom as they are in Mekt, in large cities such as Pharyss they can be found everywhere. Already I had seen many forms of fairy made entertainment and decorations that had been made for the celebration, and the hall of pictures was the very first fairy gift in the kingdom. The anticipation for seeing such a monumental piece of Lantine's history made me impatient to get to the castle. I told Christian as much and he just laughed.

"You have to be prepared," He said. "The hall can be quite overwhelming at first. I know when my mother and father showed me it for the first time I was a bit terrified but at the same time awed by the fairies power."

Christian's words confused me. How could a hall of pictures be terrifying? I imagined it to be like other fairy paintings I have seen that could move about or change in their frames. That wasn't very frightening. The pictures must do something more than just move.

"I have see fairy pictures before, they aren't very scary." Perhaps I could get him to explain himself before we arrived at the castle so I could get a better idea of what to expect. I did not want to look like a coward in front of the prince.

Christian shook his head. "I can guarantee these pictures are like nothing you have seen before. My father tells me in Mekt they are everywhere. He's seen them when he holds court with Pandia, the Mektous queen. I can't imagine having pictures like that everywhere. I hope one day that I am able to see them all for myself. How strange it must be."

"What's so different about the pictures in the hall?" I asked. My anticipation was turning to anxiety with the way he talked about them. Maybe they were dangerous, but the prince wouldn't have me walk into somewhere that was dangerous.

Christian just smiled secretively. "It's still a surprise, remember?"

I had to know what I was getting myself into. Maybe I should tell him that I was feeling ill and had to return to the hotel, but I didn't want to miss spending the day with him. I also wasn't particularly fond of the idea of returning to Victoria and Giselle so soon. "You said I had to be prepared, how can I prepare for something I don't understand?"

My breath caught when Christian tenderly took my hand in his. "Don't worry; I'll be there so nothing bad will happen. The pictures are wonderful, trust me."

The feeling of my hand in his dispelled all my fears. Of course he wouldn't take me somewhere dangerous. The pictures were probably just a bit overwhelming at first. If Christian said I would like the hall then I trusted his judgment. Another thought occurred to me once the trepidation had subsided. "Has your sister taken Victoria and Giselle to see the hall of pictures?"

Christian leaned away from me, releasing my hand, and reclined against the side of the carriage. "No, Joslynn hasn't visited the hall since our return. That is why she wants me to inspect them, dust away the cobwebs and such. Besides, I'm not sure if those two would enjoy it very much."

Since he was no longer holding my hand, the former anxiety was slowly rising up in my mind again. I took a deep breath. I would not be afraid; Christian said there was nothing to fear so I would not be afraid. I repeated the words in my head, trying to dispel the fear before the prince noticed. I did not want him taking me back because I was afraid of something foolish. "What sort of magic is used for the pictures then?" I tried to craftily get him to reveal what he knew.

Christian just wagged his finger at me. "Good try, but I want it to be a complete surprise. I will tell you that it is a higher form of fairy magic though. It's very old and very powerful."

While I was trying to come up with another question that might make Christian divulge anything, the carriage stopped. Christian sat up and reached for the door. "We're here." He said excitedly. "You're going to love it."

He helped me out of the carriage and onto the white stone carriage path that circled the grassy courtyard inside the outer wall. Before us stood the castle in all its beauty with blooming rose bushes lining the path to the front entrance. Here and there, strong men in armor were patrolling the yard and wall. Christian informed me that castle security is heightened during a celebration. He led me up the few steps that lead to the large wooden doors. Inside the entry hall, servants were rushing to and fro carrying out their different tasks. It seemed that everyone in the castle was very busy getting ready for the coming week.

"It seems that Joslynn is still running the servants ragged with her wedding preparations. I can't imagine what there is left to do. It's been like this for weeks." Christian said.

I followed him up the beautiful branching staircase that led to the next floor. While we walked he explained some of the details of what his sister was planning. Turning down another hallway he informed me that we needed to make one stop before going to the hall of pictures. We stopped in a room that seemed to be used mainly for storage. There were odds and ends lying around pieces of disused furniture. Christian went to a wardrobe and pulled out two thick capes lines with fur. He put one over his arm and handed the other one to me. Next we went to a sword rack with an assortment of weapons. He picked up a sturdy sword and winked at me. "Just in case," He said.

I put the cape over my arm as he had done his. We walked back out into the hall. "Are we going to be fighting monsters?" I could not imagine what he would need a sword for if we were only going to look at pictures.

He laughed and swung the sword a few times. "It's possible that there may be – ahem - unexpected occurrences once we enter the hall of pictures. There's nothing to worry about though. We'll be perfectly safe."

I hurried after him as he casually walked away down the hall. "Then you don't need a sword. Maybe it's too dangerous for us."

He only laughed at my fears. "Nonsense, I am an expert fencer and won't let any beast near you. However, you don't have to come if you don't want to. I'm sure Joslynn could find something for you to do. Your sisters have been invaluable in her preparations and I'm sure she would appreciate your help."

The thought of having to explain to the princess why I did not have any of the decorating skills of my two stepsisters scared me more than going into the mysterious hall of pictures. There were too many questions she could ask, none of which I had answers for. I didn't want to get in trouble with the royal family or my stepsisters before the celebration even began. I stopped trying to convince Christian that the hall of pictures was too dangerous and just followed him carrying my cape.

"Oh, Ian, there you are!" Princess Joslynn was hastening down the hall toward us. She was carrying many colorful samples of fabric in her arms. She was not as put together as I had last seen her. Her hair was down and she looked more frazzled. "Thaddeus told me you had returned. Oh, and you brought Miss Ebony with you how nice. I need to know what you did with the rest of the fabric samples from the tailor that came in yesterday. I can only find four of them."

"I put them in the green lounge where I thought you had the sewing things set up." Christian said.

His sister sighed dramatically. "No, that was where the sewing for the outdoor decorations is being done. The servants are sewing the indoors decorations in the main ballroom antechamber because most of the decorations will go in the ballroom. I'll have to send someone to go and fetch them and bring them to the antechamber. I still haven't decided which one I want to use yet for the bouquet sheaths. Elle and Tori helped me narrow it down to six and I want to lay them all out to compare them. You must be on your way to the hall of pictures now, would you be a dear and stop in and tell Harlan that I want to finalize the guest list for the first ball? I can't believe that it all begins in only three days. There is so much to do!"

It sounded as if Joslynn had employed everyone in the castle in her party preparations. I wondered at how she managed to keep track of all the different details that must need attending too. She also had to plan the weekly balls in part. It was amazing she could handle all that at once. Giselle and Victoria must have had their hands full while they were here.

"Slow down, Joslynn," Christian said. "What room do you have Harlan in?"

She rearranged the fabric in her arms. "He should be in the room across the hall from where you are going. If he's not there, I have no idea where he is."

"You really should take a break. All this planning is wearing you down. Let Marigold take over some of the planning. Go take a nap or spend time with your future husband."

Joslynn sighed. "I sent Reginald into town to finalize plans with the orchestra for the first ball. I can't take a break now. The ball is in three days, Christian. I'll rest once the celebration begins. Thank the spirits that I do not have to plan everything for this celebration, only the first ball and the wedding. It's all going to be marvelous though. I can't wait to see it all with Reginald. Now hurry, hurry, go give Harlan my message and check on the hall of pictures and make sure nothing dangerous has gotten in. We don't want a repeat of what happened with father and the ambassador from Tarahan. It was lovely to see you again, Ebony, I apologize but I really must dash."

I smiled and wished her luck with the preparations. Joslynn hurried on down the hall with the fabric trailing behind her.

"What happened with the king and the ambassador?" I asked as we began walking again. I found that I was gripping the cape I held tighter than I was before we talked to the princess.

"Nothing you need to worry about. I promise you, the solemn word of a prince, that I won't let anything harm you. Besides what happened was a weird coincidence. It only happened once and was quickly under control. I am certain it won't happen again."

"I'm beginning to think that the hall of pictures is not worth the risk." I mumbled

"Trust me; it's more than worth it. If you're scared you don't have to go. I'm not making you; I just want to show you how wonderful it is." Christian sounded so confident that we would be fine and it was truly as wonderful as he said. It was hard for me to refuse him, even with the seemingly dangerous something that may or may not be in the hall.

* * *

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I feel like the story is getting boring. Oh well.  
So the introduction of Mekt, eh? Mekt was the first fantasy land I ever came up with ages and ages ago in my first actual story that had some merit to it. There are a lot of other little things in this story from nearly every other story I have written ever, which I find very exciting.


	12. Hall of Pictures

For the guest who requested an update so pleasantly...

* * *

We walked the winding halls and rooms in the castle until we reached what appeared to be the uppermost floor. To the right was a sharply winding staircase that went up into a tower and to the left was an open door. Inside the room, a man was working on organizing papers. The four walls of the room were lined completely with shelves that were covered in thick leather-bound books. It must have been some sort of records room. The man that was studiously rifling through loose pages hardly looked up when Christian entered the room.

"What is it, young prince? I have no time for frivolous matters. I need to find where that forgetful old man filed the census of Grenaway Gardens from this year. The princess wants to make sure all the pertinent families from that district are invited to the upcoming ball and that dusty old Gustav did not organize a thing in here."

"Joslynn wanted me to tell you that she wants to look over the guest list for the ball. We are on our way to the hall of pictures."

The man looked up now. He glanced at me briefly before returning to the papers, "Oh, another young lady, how nice. I'm trying to get the guest list together but this confounded room is a mess and I can't find anything. The Grenaway Gardens district is the last group I need to add to the list then I will give it to your sister."

Christian bent and picked up a bundle of papers tied together with a green string that had fallen on the ground. "Be sure that you do or she'll be at both our necks. By the way, Grenaway isn't in a book. Gustav thought it was a good idea to mark it with a green tie."

The man snatched the bundle and untied the string. "Thank you, your highness. I will have this to your sister within the hour. Be careful in that hall."

We left him to his work and began the ascent up the stairs on the other side of the hall.

"There's a hall up here?" I asked. There was no possible way that an entire hall could fit on top of a tower.

"Well, it's not technically a hall of pictures. If it was named accurately it should be called the tower of pictures but that doesn't have the same ring to it. The fairies wanted it to be placed somewhere high in the castle to remind us that we had connections in the sky. You may want to put on your cape now, we're almost there."

There was a small landing at the top of the stairs with a ladder leading up to a trap door. We put on our capes and Christian strapped the sword to his belt. I felt as if we were about to brave some wild wasteland rather than just a tower in the royal castle. Christian went up first and opened the door. A cool breeze blew down on me. There must be open windows or something that exposed the room to outside the castle to create such a breeze. Christian disappeared in the room and called me up. I climbed the ladder into the hall of pictures.

The hall was certainly beautiful. It was not made of the same grey stone as the stairs we had climbed. Instead the floor, walls, and arched ceiling was made out of white marble. Ten large pictures in golden frames lined the walls with equally large windows in between. All the windows were open and their thick red drapes pulled to the sides to let in the sun. Through the windows I could see the beautiful view all the way to the surrounding country side and forests that ran to meet with the horizon. This must have been the tallest tower in the castle. However, the view of the outside world looked as if it was the painting and not the scenes in the pictures. Each golden frame held a painting of a different breathtaking landscape. I spun in a circle to look at all the amazing pieces of art. Now that I was seeing them, I could not imagine any danger being in this wonderful place. It must have been a very talented artist to make such flawless and lifelike pictures.

"Do you like it?" Christian asked.

"Oh, yes I do!" I said walking towards a picture of a lush jungle. "How could anyone be afraid of this room? These pictures are exquisite, I feel like they are hardly painted at all."

"No," Christian called as he grabbed my hand and pulled me sharply back to the middle of the room. "Not that one."

I did not see what was wrong with the jungle picture, but I decided to go along with Christian. "Which one then," I asked, "Perhaps that one over there of the ocean, or the snowy mountains?"

"I was more thinking of that one." Christian pointed to a picture of what looked like a white stone cave with some sort of colored pools dotting the floor. To me it seemed a bit out of place with the other views the pictures offered. We walked to get a closer look at the painting. The colored pools seemed to have a faint glow over them as I inspected them closer.

I yelped and jerked away from Christian and the painting when I thought I saw something in one of the pools move. Christian gripped my hand tighter. "Are you ready?"

Keeping a firm grip on my hand he pulled me straight towards the painting. I blocked my face with my other arm; sure we would run into the wall. Christian had gone mad. I felt something like a light mist and peeked out from behind my raised arm. It was like we had entered a tunnel of the mist. Before us I could see the white cave with the pools getting nearer as we walked toward it. I glanced behind and saw the tower room, though this time it looked like it was a picture in a frame and the cave the real world. We stopped when I felt pebbles under my feet. I lowered my arm and felt the shifting pebbles under my feet. It was colder here. We were no longer in the hall of pictures, I was not even sure we were still in Lantine. If Christian had not still been holding my hand I probably would have collapsed there from the shock of it all. Instead I looked frantically all around me. I had never imagined that such a thing was possible, passing so easily from one place to another in an instant.

Christian's slight squeeze of my hand slowed my spinning thoughts. "Are you alright? It's a lot to take in at first. We are under the Ivory Mountains in the south."

"How can that be?" I wondered. I knew fairy magic was powerful, but I never imagined anything like this.

"I told you the hall of pictures used higher fairy magic. I'm told that in Mekt, those kinds of pictures are everywhere and are used as nearly the only method of travelling the kingdom. Go ahead look around. This is one of the safer places the pictures show since it is hidden away under the mountains." Christian let go of my hand and I took a few tentative steps foreward.

Even though it was chilly here in the cave, I hardly noticed. The pools were in fact glowing as they had seemed in the fairy picture. Now I could see the strange liquid that filled each pool with a different color. Dripping stalactites hung from the ceiling over the pools. The liquid ran down them in a spiral and cast dancing shadows around the cave. My legs had steadied and my mind had begun to settle and focus of the other things in the cave. I walked over to a pool filled with light purple. I crouched down next to it to get a closer look. It looked a bit like milk except for the color.

"What is it?" I asked Christian.

He was standing beside me. "I don't know. My father and his father have had scientists and wizards examine it but no one can come up with any definitive reason or source for it. They call it liquid alabaster, but as far as they can tell it isn't really a liquid."

"It looks like a liquid to me." I said. There were constantly ripples from the stalactites above and the liquid alabaster circling down.

"Touch it," Christian said. He had crouched down close to me. I was aware of how close his hand was to mine. "Then you will see it's not liquid."

I waved my hand over the surface of the pool. It cast a purple glow onto my palm. "Is it safe? It won't burn me or sting?"

Christian shook his head and together we reached one hand into the pool. I gasped at what the liquid alabaster did. Instead of rippling like normal water, it began a slow spiral up my fingers. I could barely feel it on my skin as if it never actually touched me. When I moved my fingers, the liquid alabaster moved as well staying close to my skin. I could even lift my hand out of the pool and the purple substance would still be winding around my fingers. Now it seemed to almost be like a fog in the way it moved but that couldn't be because I could feel the gentle flow of it over my hands. I looked up at the ceiling. Up there it seemed to have no trouble obeying gravity and falling into the pool but it was not dripping off my hand. "How peculiar," I commented.

Christian also had the liquid alabaster winding around his hand. "Quite," He agreed. Then to my surprise he moved his hand closer to mine. The closer he got, the liquid alabaster on each of our hands seemed to attract each other and pull away from our hands to bridge the space between. I looked at Christian's face when his fingers entwined with mine. Now our joined hands were covered in the strange substance.

* * *

So does anyone know where the hall of pictures came from? Anyone? Anyone? That's right! It's from Super Mario 64 on Nintendo! That's where I got the idea of portal pictures. I was just sitting around one day thinking about how where he took her had to be awesome and how I wanted a location out of the city without actually leaving the city and Mario was there just being all like 'just jump through the pictures'.


	13. Slide Races

I was the first to pull away from his hand and stand up. With my rapid jerk the liquid alabaster fell back into the pool. I sputtered and stumbled over my words before I found my voice again. "That's amazing. All of this is amazing. Thank you so much for bringing me here and showing me this. It's truly an honor, your highness. When I came here I never expected to see anything so wonderful."

Christian shook his hand free of the substance and stood up with me. "I'm glad you like it. I wanted to share it with someone who would appreciate the beauty of it. I didn't think Giselle or Victoria would enjoy the beauty of this place if there were no jewels or dresses to look at. They are very much like my sister in that way, she loves that sort of thing. But you, you see the beauty in nature. You were not worried with how dirty you might get if you petted the horse the day I met you and you said it was beautiful. Not many proper ladies would approach a horse like that."

"Maybe I'm not a proper lady." I said meekly. No proper lady would climb trees and run through the forest as I had done back home.

I was a bit startled by the prince's hearty laugh. "Thank the spirits for that."

I was reminded of the first time we met and our similar line of conversation then. He had said then that it was refreshing to meet someone who wasn't proper all the time. Who would have guessed that my lack of pomp and circumstance would gain me more favor with the prince than Giselle and Victoria?

I looked around the rest of the cave. "So, is there anything else to this cave?"

"Bored already?" Christian laughed. He seemed more at ease here when there were no people about. "There is a sort of secret thing here that I've never shared with anyone except my brothers and sisters. We used to come here all the time to play, but now Hector is off learning how to be king and Joslynn is getting married. I imagine Curtis and Clover still come here sometimes but I haven't joined them. I'm not supposed to play childish games anymore."

"A secret something, I'm intrigued. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you were playing games if you show me." I flirted. Perhaps I was getting better at the entire courting thing now that I had someone to court.

Christian grinned excitedly and turned toward the far side of the cave were larger stalactites hung from the ceiling and in some places joined with stalagmites on the floor to form columns. "Follow me."

I did as he said. He went behind the largest column of spiraling rock to where a tunnel entrance was hidden. The tunnel was lit by different colors of the liquid alabaster running down the walls. It was not as bright as the first cave had been and cast everything in a strange glowing light. It was not long before the tunnel branched off two different ways. Where it branched it was no longer straight path, it was a steep slope downwards. The glowing liquid that ran down the walls pooled together to form a white stream going down both sides of each sloping slide. Christian was looking at me excitedly.

I looked from him to the glowing slopes. "No, you can't be serious. We cannot go down there."

"It's perfectly safe; both sides come out in another cave like the one we were just in." He coaxed.

I was still skeptical, but it did seem like great fun to slide down the tunnels. "Are you sure? How do we get back?"

"You worry too much. There's another tunnel that leads back to the cave back there. It's behind one of the other columns. So, on the count of three?" Christian went to stand at the top of one of the chutes.

I grinned and stood at the top of the other. "I'll race you to the bottom."

Christian grinned back, "One."

I turned to the slide before me and focused on how I would get to the bottom faster than he did, "Two."

"Three!" We shouted together as we both jumped onto our respective slides and raced to the bottom.

I zoomed around bends in the tunnels and laughed as I willed myself to go faster. The white liquid alabaster got caught in my clothes and I was sure that by the time I made it to the bottom I would be glowing all over. I reached the bottom and tumbled out onto white pebbles like the ones in the first cave. I didn't even bother to stand immediately. I just lay on the ground laughing. I heard Christian's footsteps on the gravel and he stood over me with his arms crossed. "That was an impressive first run, Miss Ebony, but I am afraid to say you lost most assuredly."

I sat up. "Then we must go again!"

Christian smiled and helped me to my feet. I was covered in the white liquid alabaster and so was he. We looked ghostly. Christian pointed to a hole in the cave wall near where the slides were. "There's the tunnel back."

Enthusiastically we dashed up the tunnel until we came out into the first cave. He was right; the tunnel was hidden behind a column. I didn't concern myself with it for long because I could see the other tunnel. We continued our dash back to the head of the slides. Again we jumped on three and I slid down the glowing slide and again Christian beat me to the bottom. This time it was him that called for a rematch and I had no objections. We ran back to the top of the slides. We raced down three more times, each time I was the last to reach the bottom. I even made him switch me slides to see if one was faster than the other. After the third race we both lay on the floor of the cave and looked at ceiling. All the running up and sliding down had worn us both out.

"How do you slide so fast?" I asked.

Christian answered me from where he laid a few feet away, "Lots of practice. I used to come here with my family."

"There must be some technique or something to going faster. Is it because you weigh more than me and it pulls you down faster? If that is so, that is completely unfair." I tried to work out other ways I could go faster and win a race.

"No, it's not weight so much. I remember the last time I came here with Clover. That little munchkin is the fastest slider of the whole family. She's like an arrow the way she flies down."

"Then what is it?" Clover was definitely not heavy and somehow she managed to go faster than everyone.

"You have to lay a certain way as you go down. The best way is to cross your arms over your chest and arch your back. That way there's less of you touching the slide so you go faster."

I thought about what he said. It made sense, and if it was how he beat me every time I was willing to try it. "Right, so when I catch my breath we are going to go again and this time I will win."

Christian chuckled, "We'll see. I can be very competitive."

As planned, once we were ready we went back up to the top. We didn't run this time because we were too worn out to go dashing around. On three we jumped once more into the sloping tunnels and began our speedy decent down. This time I did what Christian had told me and arched my back with my arms crossed. I did go faster and this time I was the first out of the tunnel. It was only a second before Christian came sliding into the cave, but I had won. Re-energized with my victory, I jumped to my feet. "I won! It worked!"

Christian sat up and laughed at my silly little victory dance. "We should probably have to go back now. It must be near midnoon."

I had almost forgotten about the world outside this cave. It was so strange here. There was nothing to mark the passing of time and everything else was so foreign it felt like another world altogether. "How can you tell? It feels as if no time has passed at all. Maybe it hasn't."

Truthfully, I had just figured out the strategy for winning our little races and wanted to go a few more times. Christian stood up and started toward the way back to the first cave and the portal back to the castle. Not wanting to seem like a petulant child, I followed. I wanted to ask him if there was some way we could come back here at some other time, however I thought it would seem imposing on our friendship. It was his generosity after all that had even led to my being here and I shouldn't expect him to be more generous than he was already being. I put thoughts of returning to the back of my mind and focused on remembering it while I was here now.

The first cave was the same as when we last left it. On the far side beyond the glowing pools, the solid white wall stood looking as if there was no doorway there. I knew there had to be or else we would be stuck here. I wondered how Christian could find the portal back to the hall of pictures; to me the wall looked like solid rock. I had not turned to see it when we had first arrived so I did not know if the portal even appeared. I decided to ask Christian instead of trying to figure it out on my own which I most certainly could not. "How do we get back? I do not see anywhere where it looks possible to pass through."

Christian started feeling the wall. For a moment I worried that somehow the passage to the castle had closed and we were trapped. As much as I would have liked to stay in the caves a bit longer, the idea of being trapped there did not suit me at all. "You can't see the other side from here, but there should be a bit of rock that doesn't fit as it should. I have always had trouble remembering where it is. It moves you see and could be anywhere along this wall."

I started feeling the wall further down, not knowing what I was looking for. "How do you mean it doesn't fit as it should?"

Christian slid his hand along the wall and the rock seemed to ripple slightly. "Ah ha," He said. "Found it, you see how it moves when you touch it?"

I felt the wall near his hand. It did not feel like stone but rather like a very heavy curtain hung there that only appeared to be rock. It seemed the area was about the same size at the picture frame on the other side. "So, now what do we do?"

Christian offered me his hand and I took it. "Just like before, we have to go through the wall."

I took a deep breath and together we walked straight into the stone. This time I managed to keep my head up. It was different going through from this side. It felt as if I had walked into that heavy curtain and for a moment it was stifling, then the imaginary curtain disappeared and we were back in the hall of mist with the hall of mirrors on the other side and the cave behind us.

* * *

Whew, re-reading the chapters looking for mistakes is tedious.  
Well, that was one picture in the hall of pictures. With the next chapter I am introducing a new character who will pop up semi-frequently in the rest of the story. I'm excited to know what you all think of him.


	14. Interruption

Back in the castle tower, I could see that the sun had moved considerably on its path through the sky. If I were to guess, I would have said that the time was three past noon. That meant I had spent near five hours in that strange but wonderful place. The abrupt change in temperature from the coldness of the cave to the warmth of the room made me take off my cloak, as did Christian. He took my cloak and together we walked back to the room from whence we got them.

As we walked the halls, we argued jovially about who would have won more races had we stayed longer. He said that since he had years of experience that he would surely be the victor and that I won because of luck and not skill. I argued that it had not been luck but rather a secret talent for cave sliding that I had discovered and would surely only get better at with time. We were laughing as we returned to the room.

As he put up the sword I asked, "Why did you need to bring that anyway? There was nothing dangerous in the caves."

Christian put the sword back up on the rack. "The portals are not only one way. We can pass through into other places, but things from other places can pass through to this side as well. That's one of the reasons the room is kept in a tower so whatever may come through cannot escape into the castle."

"Is that what happened that time with the king? I remember that man saying something about that." I was so scared of the hall of pictures before I had actually seen how wonderful it was. Everyone talked of it like it was some dreadful thing.

"When my father took the Tarahinian ambassador to the hall, a giant hummer wasp flew out of the jungle frame at them. Luckily, my father was carrying a ceremonial sword that day or they may have both been grievously wounded or even killed."

I was sure Christian meant the jungle frame I almost wandered into, I was glad he had stopped me. Hummer wasps were bothersome when they were regular size. I would not want to come into contact with one the size of a large bird.

"Shall we have lunch by the frog pond? I wish I could impress you with the grandeur of the main gardens but Joslynn has them filled with workers and decorations. When my sister wants to throw a ball she has to have the entire castle decorated to the rafters." Once again Christian and I were in the hallway and I was following him. I wondered if he knew his way around the entire castle. I knew he had lived there his whole life, but the castle was just so massive that I could not imagine anyone who could navigate the winding hallways and stairs easily.

"I cannot wait until this first ball. Your sister is doing a wonderful job with preparations, but are you sure she can get everything ready in only three days?" To me it seemed that there was still an endless list of things to do to prepare even though she had been working with my stepsisters for the past month. I knew that I could not have managed to put together a ball as elaborate as the princess seems to be organizing. It was a wonder that she was still standing after rushing around for more than a month.

Christian stopped a servant who was passing by with a load of flowers. He told the man to run to the kitchen and have them prepare a picnic lunch and have it taken to the frog pond. The servant nodded his head and went on his way. "If there is anyone who can pull off a ball of this scale, it is my sister. She was helping mother with organizing parties before she was old enough to attend them. It may look like chaos now, but it will be finished in time."

We walked out to the frog pond. It was a small pool of water surrounded by stones on a large uneven stone patio in an open area in the gardens. Cattails and tall grasses grew around the edges of the pond in clumps. Tiny colorful frogs jumped from lily pad to lily pad as dragonflies buzzed in between. There was a small fountain of water in the center that gave off a melodic bubbling noise to accompany the dragonfly wings and soft croaks from the frogs. Part of the patio was shaded by a large weeping willow with some of the branches cut away to allow people to walk under it easily. I thought it was the perfect place for a picnic. I thought that it was such a serene location that Joslynn would want to do something with it for her celebrations. Granted, it was a smaller area than the busy rose garden we passed through, but it was no less beautiful.

"Shall we?" Christian motioned to the spot under the weeping willow.

After we sat on the cool stones, it was only a matter of minutes before a pair of kitchen maids approached with a basket of food and a flagon of drink. The basket was filled with small items. There were no elaborate delicacies, but rather things would expect from a small meal taken in a garden. There were a few types of finger sandwiches and fruit to choose from along with cold strawberry fizz straight from the cellars; the bubbles from which tickled my throat as I swallowed. It was a perfect end to a wonderful day.

We talked and laughed as the sun sank lower in the sky. He told me about the other preparations his sister went through over the past few months and I told him about the day I went to the zoo and met his younger siblings. "They were quite spirited." I said. I wanted to avoid offending the prince by saying that his younger brother and sister were rude and forward with me.

Christian smiled, "That is one word for them. They are going to drag that poor nurse fairy of theirs into an early grave. Mother worries that Clover is growing up unladylike and wants to send her off to a finishing school in Tarahan. I think leaving Curtis might make her act more like a lady and less like a wild thing. Those two get into so much trouble together."

I could easily imagine the pair running around the castle and terrorizing the servants. For the brief time I met with them, I could tell that already that day they had worn Crimson out completely. Christian went on describing one of the scrapes they got themselves into. "Why, I recall last summer they caused such a fuss that father yelled so loud the very stones seemed to shake. Clover had gotten it into her head that her little pony just had to go for a swim in the large pond in the maid courtyard. She convinced Curtis to help her move the poor beast into the middle of the pond. Well, those two somehow got the horse all the way to the center of the pond where the horse's hooves got stuck in the mud. It's lucky that the pond wasn't very deep or else the pony would have drowned. It took two dozen servants nearly four hours to get that pony out of the pond. After father heard about it, he yelled at the two for nearly as long about respecting their animals and the servants who had to clean up their mess. When the horse had made it back to the stables, two of the men went to father and resigned saying they were not meant for work like that. That poor pony is still afraid of Curtis and Clover and throws a fit when they go near her."

My eyes widened at his tale. It sounded like a terrible mess and I felt sorry for the horse that had to endure being driven into a pond. "Where ever did she get the idea that the horse needed to be led into the pond?"

Christian shrugged. "She said that she had heard a story about horses with large wings that could float on water like swans and that her pony was one of them. No one could figure out where she had heard such a story and she would not tell which book she got it from or who had told her such a tale. No one in the castle had ever heard of something as absurd as horses floating on water."

I was wondering where anyone would get such an absurd notion when someone else entered the frog pond area. It was a tall thin boy who walked with his long pointed nose held high in the air. He had short sandy brown hair that was carefully assembled in waves on his head. He addressed Christian and did not acknowledge me at all. When he spoke his voice was high and bored sounding, as if he had gone through a lot of trouble to find the prince and now couldn't be bothered to do anything more. I glanced at Christian. His had had clenched into a fist, he looked rather annoyed. "It seems Aunt Marge has arrived and brought her son. This is Cousin Dewey." Christian whispered at me through the corner of his mouth. I looked the prince's cousin again. If I were to guess, I would say he was nearly seventeen annuals of age. He carried the confidence of youth and the arrogance that came from growing up with no discipline. It seemed Christian was not overly fond of his cousin.

"Ian, there you are. It was very rude of you to not have been there to greet me and mother when we arrived here this morn. I was so looking forward to the archery skills you promised to show me the last time I visited. I also was expecting to see the new horse you wrote about. I was hoping we could spend the day together while the women worked at their decorations and washing." Dewey said. He never once lowered his nose out of the air. Instead he looked at his cousin at a very odd angle. He kept his hands clasped firmly behind his back and cut rather an odd pose as he stood on the other side of the pond.

"I had a previous engagement today, Dewey. Perhaps tomorrow we can do the things I promised." Next to me I could see the annoyance clear in the very way Christian sat with his back straight and his jaw set. He was trying to be polite, but he found his cousin tiresome.

Now Dewey glanced at me. I stood and introduced myself with a small curtsy as was polite. Stiffly Dewey returned the politeness with a small nod of his head before he went back to berating Christian. While Dewey gave a very long tedious speech and filled his ears with his own voice, Christian whispered to me. "I'm sorry for his behavior. He follows me around constantly when he is here. I had hoped that perhaps if I was not here when he arrived he would spend more time with Curtis and Clover. Curtis is closer to his age after all, they is less than an annual of difference between them. Honestly, I cannot stand his company for extended periods of time. He speaks so stiffly and acts like one of the old stuffy advisors at court. Once he told me that he felt he was too mature for my younger brother and much preferred my company for we had similar interests. I think the real reason he prefers me is…"

"Would you mind listening to me when I speak to you?" Dewey interrupted. He walked around the pond to sit between us under the willow. He picked at the food and between bites he spoke. "There now you must listen to me. I was saying that it is very important for one to keep his promises especially when they are vows made to his own flesh and blood. We are of a higher class of people and must be expected to hold to a higher set of rules for how we conduct ourselves. Without such rules the hierarchy of the kingdom will fall to ruin. Now, if you do not mind I would like you to uphold your promises to me and show me your archery and horse. There are still a few hours left of the day and I'm sure you can find the time."

I shifted nervously. Now with Dewey nearly demanding to spend the rest of the day with the prince, I felt out of place. "Perhaps I should return to the inn."

"Splendid idea," The spoiled boy said.

The prince looked slightly disappointed, like he didn't want me to go just yet. I did not want to leave either, but Dewey made me feel like I was completely ruining the day he had planned and that one way or another he would send me away so he could be alone to do the things Christian had promised. It occurred to me that I could not get back to the inn without a carriage. Christian had been the one to bring me from the inn to the castle and I could not find my way back to the inn alone. Luckily, I was not the only one who remembered this and Christian told Dewey that he would have to personally return with me to the Gilded Leopard. To both of our surprise, the boy stood straight up and adjusted his tunic. "Well then, we had best be on our way. I do not want to waste any time."

Christian and I stood up more slowly. "Perhaps you could stay here and unpack your things first and get settled in your room." Christian offered.

Dewey waved a hand and laughed. "Oh, cousin, that is what servants are for. Besides I have already unpacked most of my things in the hours I spent waiting on your return. Now let us be off."

The carriage ride was awkward, to say the least. Dewey talked incessantly about his journey to Pharyss, his mother, a ball he attended last month, and any other minute detail that he felt the need to share. Neither I nor Christian spoke more than a few words on the way back to the inn. I could not imagine how Christian could spend more than an hour with the endless prattle. After the short carriage ride, I was thankful when we stopped at the front steps of the Gilded Leopard. Christian helped me out of the carriage and to my surprise Dewey hopped out after me. He explained that it was only proper for him and his cousin to escort me into the inn. I did my best to keep my annoyance in check when he took my arm and led me up the steps; all the while talking with his nose in the air.

* * *

Well, that was Dewey. I think he's fun to write because he is so absurd.

P.S. - The strawberry fizz reference is not really mine. I don't know if there is actually a drink called strawberry fizz, but I know it from a series about Redwall Abbey written by Brian Jacques. That series is probably the one that made me want to write and write well. Brian Jacques was my favorite author for years and I find my shelf of Redwall very comforting still. So that was my little salute to him. He was a great author, a great poet, and a great man.


	15. A Great Plan

Once through the large doors I tried to persuade Dewey that I could make it the rest of the way just fine on my own. Even with only the short time I had known him, I had a feeling it was a futile effort. Christian was following slightly behind him like he could not believe that his cousin had shown up and completely ruined the day. With much more pomp than was necessary, Dewey led me to the foot of the stairs. I expected him to let go of my hand and allow me to say my goodbyes and return to my room. Instead he continued his speech about how important manners were.

"Fair lady Ebony, I feel that we shall meet again one day. It has been my honor to meet you on this fine day. It is very important that I make my feelings known to you about how sorry I am that I must take away my loving cousin from your friendly company. Had the circumstances had been different; I would have no trouble allowing you to accompany Christian and I on our aforementioned tasks. However, I had been waiting to spend quality time with him ever since I left my home and traveled here with my mother. I don't want you to feel that you are intruding on our family time. Therefore, I feel that the much kinder alternative is that you stay here. I hope you will not be too aggrieved at your day being cut short. One day you may find it in your heart to forgive me now that you know my feelings in the matter. Forgiveness is very important in a young person's life. It builds character and strengthens the soul. I sense that you are of a kind nature and I feel that you have been trained in the importance of forgiveness." I'm sure Dewey would have continued talking well into the night had Christian not pointedly cleared his throat. I was not even sure he knew what he was saying when he spoke or certainly he would have kept his mouth shut.

"Thank you, Dewey," Christian said as his cousin finally released my hand. I resisted the urge to wipe my hand on my dress; his hand had been slightly sweaty. "Maybe you should go and see that the carriage has not wandered off."

He was nearly halfway to the doors when I heard two familiar voices calling mine and the prince's names. Hearing his cousin's name called, Dewey turned back to see Giselle and Victoria bouncing down the wide staircase. They stopped on both sides of me, Giselle to my left and Victoria to my right. As Giselle was greeting the prince and inquiring after his health I saw that Dewey had begun to walk back to us. No doubt he had seen my stepsister's beauty and felt the need to meet them.

"Christian and his cousin really must get back to the castle." I interrupted Giselle as she was telling the prince about her day. I did not want to be in the middle of the strange and lengthy conversation that I was sure would ensue when Dewey met Giselle and Victoria.

Christian looked as if he wanted the same thing but it was already too late. Dewey had joined our little group at the bottom of the stairs once again. "My, what charming and beautiful young women my esteemed cousin seems to be friends with. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Squire Dewitt Dalmer of Maple Hill Manor in the south of Borlah, but my friends know me as Dewey. I do so hope we can be friends."

I was shocked. This was one of the shortest speeches I had heard him speak. I could practically feel the judgment that Giselle and Victoria were passing on the odd squire. In a moment Victoria spoke for them both, "Did you say you were our charming prince's cousin?" They had found him to be inconsequential and only his connection to the royal family could make him worth their time, I was sure.

Dewey nodded vigorously. It seemed this was not the first time he had used his family ties to try and woo women. "You hear me correctly, madam. My mother is the queen's younger sister. I practically grew up with the royal family in the castle."

I seemed to be the only one who caught the small shake of Christian's head at his cousin's proclamation. Dewey must not have spent as much time as he said at the castle when he was a child. Nevertheless, the fact that he was related to the queen made him important to my stepsisters. No doubt they wanted to ingratiate themselves with as much of the royal family as possible, even it was the extended family. Victoria immediately set about making small talk with Dewey while Giselle focused her attention on the prince. I was left in the middle of both conversations. With no one to talk to myself, I set about listening to Giselle and Christian's conversation. They were talking about the weather, a subject that one only goes to if there is nothing else. I found it very dull to listen to and turned my ear to Victoria and Dewey; no doubt their conversation would be more exciting. I was correct. Dewey was outlining his plans for tonight with his cousin and how he was terribly aggrieved that he could not spend time with his new acquaintances. I glanced at Victoria's face. She was having a hard time holding her tongue with the strange boy.

"Lovely Victoria, may I call you by your name with no titles? Normally, it is in the utmost distaste to refer to someone so casually who one has just met, but I feel we have a special connection. While tonight my cousin the prince and I have plans to visit the stables and have a go at archery, if I had known that I would have had to pass up the opportunity to spend the evening with two such young ladies as you, I am sure that I would not have made such plans so hastily. Alas, as the plans are made there is nothing I can do about it now. Perhaps tomorrow we could spend some time together and become better acquainted. Any friend of Ian's is a friend of mine, and I would so like to be great friends with you and your sister. So shall we plan it then, a day spent together in the spirit of friendship?" Dewey ended his speech and I had to cover my mouth with one hand to hold back my laugh at Victoria's face. Luckily, Dewey did not see anything amiss or there would surely be another longwinded recitation on manners.

When she did speak, Victoria spoke slowly and carefully as not to offend Dewey. "As much as my sister and I would enjoy spending time getting to know you as you say, we have planned to go shopping tomorrow."

Not missing a beat Dewey volunteered to accompany them to the shops. Victoria was not expecting such a response. I wondered what she could say to politely refuse him; if she could think of nothing she would have a new shopping companion. "Are you sure, Squire Dewitt, that you want to go shopping with us?"

"Of course, madam, I would enjoy seeing the lovely things you look at in all the quaint shops. I do not go to stores regularly in my home town and I feel sometimes like I am missing out by having a personal tailor make my clothes. Going out with two well seasoned shoppers such as you two would be an experience I would not soon miss." Dewey was looking at Victoria with such earnest innocence and Victoria was very nearly glaring at him. She did not like him one single bit, but in the interest of becoming close with the royal family she would not be rude to him. To me it was quite hysterical.

I could barely contain my mirth as Victoria accepted his offer and felt that I had to excuse myself as I lost my composure right there on the steps. I said my goodbyes to Christian and Dewey and left them with my stepsisters as I returned to our room. Once safely inside with the door closed I fell onto my makeshift bed and laughed until tears ran down my cheeks at the thought of Giselle and Victoria having to endure Squire Dewitt for an entire day. I would not be surprised if after having to listen to his endless talking one or both of them would lose their tempers and yell at him. That would definitely put a damper on their standing progress with the royal family. If I would not also be subject to his speeches, I would want to watch tomorrow's shopping trip unfold with the three of them. My stepsisters would probably not take kindly to me laughing at their torment the whole day either. No, I would go shopping on my own for a costume to wear to the first ball.

Within a few minutes Giselle and Victoria blew into the room in a storm of complaints and exasperated groans. "Why does that little gnat have to go with us tomorrow?" Giselle screeched. "This is all your fault, Ebony." She muttered as she stomped around.

Victoria fell dramatically into a chair. "I didn't invite him. Who would have known that a man would actually _want_ to go shopping? This ruins our whole day."

"He is so stupid and not even nice to look at. He's just all manners this and my mother that. I'm sure he will have some ridiculously long speech to give us whenever we try to buy something. I tried to get Christian to come with us, but would he? No, he wouldn't. I tried to get him to take his cousin somewhere. But would he? No, he wouldn't even do that and now we are stuck playing nursemaid with the little boy." Giselle was still stomping around waving her arms.

I was surprised that Giselle was being so ungracious when speaking about her love the prince. "Dewey is only a few years younger than you." I pointed out. This just seemed to agitate them more.

"And that name, Dewey, have you ever heard a more ridiculous name than Dewey? I cannot imagine what would possess a person to willingly be called anything so dreadful." Giselle fumed. Victoria was slumped in the chair and rubbing her forehead. Talking at length with Dewey had probably given her a headache. I however, quite liked the boy for giving me such a show.

"There has to be some way out if it. Perhaps we can send a messenger in the morning saying we are ill." Victoria said from under her hand.

"Ha," Giselle scoffed. "That foolish flea would probably want to come and nurse us back to health to spend time with us. There is nothing we can do. He has trapped us into spending an entire day in his loathsome company. I can barely spend a few minutes listening to him drone on and on. Now we are forced into spending time with him in a carriage and have him follow us around in shops like a lost puppy. How am I supposed to get anything done while I am tripping over him? I swear if he wasn't the prince's own cousin I would tear him to bits and send him crying back to that precious mother of his."

Victoria stood up wearily. "You know we can't do that. We can only get to sleep so we are well rested and ready to endure the torture of tomorrow."

I could tell Giselle was still fuming but her sister was right. There was no way they could back out of the arrangement without insulting Dewey and possibly even the royal family. Victoria slowly went to her room while Giselle angrily went to hers and slammed the door. Neither of them had even acknowledged me. I was glad it didn't enter their minds as to take me as a distraction for Dewey. I wanted them to spend a day being nice to the prince's odious cousin, not me.

* * *

Personally, I thought this chapter was hilarious. I laughed while I was proof reading it.

So anyway, apparently I am at a point in the story where writing a chapter is nothing and if I just sit down and do it I can crank one out super easily. The problem is the sitting down and starting part.

And 100+ reviews! You guys are awesome!


	16. Lilac Avenue

When I woke up, Giselle and Victoria were dead silent as they prepared for their day. Normally they chatted while they got ready, but today you would have thought they were preparing for their own executions. I couldn't really blame them with the day they had planned, but I still did my best not to laugh at their solemn faces. I stayed as quiet as I could and hoped they wouldn't think to force me to go along. I figured it would be best to avoid them as best as I could this morning; it would only cause problems – especially in their current moods. I slowly picked up my book from where I had left it on the floor and turned on my side to read. Maybe they wouldn't even realize I was awake.

There was a knock on the door which was no doubt one of the maids coming to tell them that Dewey was here to pick them up. They both stood in front of the door longer than necessary. I guess they were hoping for some miracle that would prevent them from going shopping today. "I can't believe we're doing this." Giselle whispered.

Victoria opened the door and the maid gave them the news that Squire Dewitt was waiting for them. They followed the girl out of the room and I all but leapt from where I lay. I was free for the day. I quickly got dressed. I was giddy with the fact that Giselle and Victoria would be spending the day with Dewey and I was spending my day free of them. It might have a bit mean to be so excited about not having to see my stepsisters, but I was still flying from my day with the prince and I didn't want them to ruin it. I tied my hair up in a braid that fell over one shoulder and picked up a purse to carry my money. I slung the bag over my shoulder and carefully situated it so the flap to open it was pressed firmly against my thigh. With one last smile at myself in the mirror I excitedly set forth from the Gilded Leopard.

It was true that I did not originally want to buy a dress for the first ball, but I wanted to impress Christian and I felt nothing I brought would do the trick. Where to start? I couldn't go far for I had neither carriage nor horse to carry me. Lilac Avenue was the closest shopping district I could think of so I set out for there. The avenue was a wide street lined with fancy shops with bright clothes displayed in the front windows. This early in the morning it was not busy yet, but as the day went on more and more people would come to shop. For awhile I just walked up one side of the street and down the other looking in the shop windows. I examined the dresses displayed there to decide which shop I would go in first. One shop had absolutely horrendous dresses that were nothing but too puffy sleeves and even puffier skirts all covered in lace and bows. Another shop had pretty designs but awful color choices. Eventually I decided to go into a shop in the middle of the avenue that I thought had the nicest dresses. This shop was busier than I expected. It seemed the outside street was calm because all the shoppers were in the stores already. Many ladies were looking for their last minute ball gowns like I was. I worried that with all the people all the good selections would be gone. I should have looked for my dress sooner.

I browsed a few racks and nothing really caught my eye. From what I knew the first ball was to be a black and white mask. When Giselle and Victoria got their masks, they made sure to buy costumes that would draw attention. I wanted to be less flashy than them and stick with something simpler. I saw little in the way of black and white gowns though. What was there had already been picked through. I kept looking though, if for no other reason than to admire the pretty dresses.

"May I help you, miss?" One of the shop girls asked me as I was examining a green gown.

I dropped the dress back into the rack. "I'm looking for a dress to wear to the ball in a few days."

The girl nodded knowingly. I was not the first person who she had helped find a dress for the ball. "There are still a few good black and white dresses here. Perhaps this one?" She held out the dress I had just looked at a few minutes ago. It was a gaudy dress that was half black and half white with long split sleeves.

I shook my head. It was a pretty enough dress but I didn't think Christian would like it. The girl set about looking for another dress when there was a terrible crash followed by several things falling near the back of the shop. She cursed and hurried to the back. She threw a hasty apology back at me over her shoulder as she went to inspect what had caused the noise. Curious, I followed her. I was shocked by the state of the back end of the store. It was where they had lined up mannequins to display some of their more choice items. Someone had rolled one of the fabric carts into the first mannequin creating a domino effect with the others. I smiled at the prank. It was a horrible thing to do of course, but the panic it caused was quite amusing. I caught sight of a familiar red light zooming through the crowd that had gathered. I followed it to where a boy and a girl stood snickering in the corner – the perfect place to push a cart from. It was the young prince and princess. The little fairy flitted angrily in front of their faces. No doubt she was giving them a sever talking to. I decided to go over and say hello, after all they didn't cause much damage, the mannequins just had to be righted and the cart returned.

The two were no longer smiling as it seemed some invisible force was pulling on one of each of their ears. Crimson was shaking a tiny finger at them while she scolded. "I hope I'm not interrupting." I said even though I clearly was. The children's heads went back to their normal alignment as the fairy's magic was no longer in effect.

"Not interrupting at all," Prince Curtis smiled up at me while he rubbed his ear.

"Couldn't have picked a better time," His sister chimed.

Crimson put her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed that I had interrupted her punishment. "We are supposed to be buying party clothes for these two but they cannot act like civilized human beings for two moments without causing problems. Just look at what they did! I had to promise to compensate for the trouble they caused to keep them from being thrown out."

I winked at Curtis and Clover. "So you're shopping for new party clothes too? Maybe we can shop together. I can help keep an eye on these two scallywags."

The two eagerly agreed and Crimson reluctantly agreed saying that she could use another pair of hands. If I were being truthful, I wanted Curtis and Clover's help in finding something that would impress their brother. Nevertheless, shopping was more fun if one was not alone. After the trouble they caused, we had to leave that shop, but the avenue was lined with many more. I let Crimson sit on my shoulder as we walked.

"So I heard you went to the white caves with my brother yesterday," Clover smirked. "I knew you liked him."

Crimson magically tweaked Clover's ear. "Hey, I'm just stating a fact!"

"I did go to the hall of mirrors with him. He told me that you were the fastest slider ever."

Clover beamed proudly. Curtis on the other hand did not want to be forgotten. "I can slide fast too! I even beat Clover a lot of the time!"

"Do not," Clover snipped.

"Do to," Curtis retorted and the argument was underway. I laughed at the back and forth of do not and do to.

On their fifth round of their back and forth, I interrupted. "I'm sure you are both fast on the slides. Now which shop shall we go in first?"

Curtis and Clover both pointed to different shops. I sighed. These two were going to be a handful, but still preferable to Dewey. Curtis was pointing to a small shop at the end of the street and Clover pointed to the shop with the puffy dresses.

"Ew, why do you want to go there?" Curtis grumbled. "Those clothes are ugly."

"I think they are funny," Clover nodded definitively and grabbed both mine and her brother's hand and pulled us to the shop. Inside she held a large brown atrocity up to herself. It was made for a woman so the bottom of the dress lay on the floor, but Clover didn't seem to mind. She pressed her lips together in a ridiculous way and crossed her eyes. "How do I look? Like a fine lady of the court, yes?"

Curtis doubled over laughing and I couldn't help but smile at how ridiculous she looked. She put the dress back on the rack and we walked deeper into the store. Curtis was the next to pull out a dress. It was a horrid orange and trimmed in fur. Clover was already laughing when he held it up. "If I were a fine lady of the court I would wear the finest clothes all the time!" He declared in a high pitched voice.

"You look like Aunt Dalmer." Clover giggled. Crimson scolded her halfheartedly. It seemed the little fairy was content that the two were not breaking anything at the moment to really scold them.

Curtis laughed as he put up the dress. They each took turns picking out dresses and pretending to be their aunt until they could barely talk for the giggling. We were starting to attract the eyes of the other shoppers and the workers, but I didn't mind. These two were funny and I was laughing along with them. It wasn't long before they picked out a dress for me to try out. It was a massive purple thing covered in huge white bows. I held it up to myself and regally declared, "I am Queen Ebony and I demand more beautiful dresses to amaze my subjects with!"

"Those dresses would amaze your subjects, Queen Ebony," Curtis bowed as if I were a real queen. "I'm sure they would all be speechless."

"Yeah, speechless at how amazingly horrible it is!" Clover joked as she held up one outrageous sleeve.

I had gotten a pretty good idea of their Aunt Dalmer through what they said about her. She wore dresses like this and talked as much as her son. Clover said she had the most annoying way of pinching her cheeks. Curtis said he didn't like the way she reeked of perfume when she hugged him. It seemed the mother was just as ridiculous as the son. I couldn't imagine the queen having such a sister. The queen was the complete opposite of her sister, according to what I had heard. She was quiet and reserved most of the time and unfailingly kind. We spent more time in the dress shop, playing with all the silly dresses until Crimson decided it was enough. Curtis and Clover protested but I reminded them we still needed to find decent clothes for the ball. Grudgingly they listened to me and we left the shop.

* * *

I know some of you wanted to read about the stepsister's shopping adventure with the charming Dewey, but this is what I had instead. I hope it's a good enough substitute for the other shopping trip. Maybe later I will put in the one with Dewey as kind of a side thing.


	17. The Dress

The next shop we went to was the one Curtis had originally pointed to. It was not as busy as the other shops and only a few people were inside. Curtis explained that was why he liked it: it was never very busy. While he tolerated shopping, he would much rather be doing almost anything else. His sister Clover on the other hand loved looking at all the pretty dresses. Since they were the prince and princess, the shop keepers paid extra special attention to them – that was until Curtis, in his boredom, talked his little sister into making mischief like in the other shop. I tried to subtly ask them what Christian liked but they saw right through that in an instant.

"Aww," Clover exclaimed excitedly. "You want to impress Ian! I know exactly what he likes and will find you the most perfect dress ever. Don't worry."

His sister's enthusiasm perked Curtis up and he said he would help too and give a man's perspective. I tried my best not to laugh at the serious face he made when he declared this. So in between Crimson having the pair look for their own clothes, they helped me look for the perfect dress. For awhile it seemed that whatever Clover liked, Curtis didn't and vice versa. It was getting frustrating. Between looking at clothes, I coaxed information about their brother out of them.

Curtis was more forthcoming than his sister. "My brother is becoming a man. Father says that I'll be like him someday. He is so brave. He fights with real swords and axes and things. He even rides big warhorses in armor and everything. With all the man tasks that he does now he doesn't have as much time to play with me, but that's alright. If I am to be a good man I need to start being more mature about things. That's what father says if I ever want to go hunting with my brothers. I do my best to be all grown up but I still want to have some fun before I have to be grown up all the time."

I heard Crimson's small snort from where she hovered over a dress for Clover. The two were picking out a dress for the young princess to wear to the first ball. Curtis was picking through a rack of dress coats. I walked over to a rack that was overly crowded with dresses. I dug through the messy piles until I spotted black and white, the colors I was looking for. It was a bit of a hassle to get it out from under the other dresses. By and by, I managed to pull it out. I examined the dress. It was a dress made of white lace with white fabric underneath. There was even black lace rising from the hem like black flames. It had lace shawl neckline that draped over the shoulders to form a sort of short sleeve. The dress was breathtaking and completely perfect.

"That one!" Curtis declared at the dress I had picked up.

"Try it on!" Clover shouted. I grinned and went to do just that.

It very nearly fit perfectly. Only the tiniest of adjustments would have to be made for it to fit like a dream. I couldn't imagine Christian not being captivated by such a dress. Clover had come with me into the changing rooms and watched as the tailor made the minor adjustments to the dress. She was swinging her legs over the edge of the stool she sat on. She was looking down at the ground in what looked like a forlorn way. I put my hand in front of the tailor's as a signal for him to stop. I stepped off the pedestal and over to the princess. I tried to not revel too much in how the dress felt as I walked in it. Carefully, I bent so I was on eye level with Clover. "Is something wrong?"

Clover wouldn't look up and didn't answer. I pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "Come on, what is it? Not enjoying shopping with your brother?"

She sniffed and I could see a few tear drops on her lap. "Oh, Clover, what's the matter?" I grabbed her hands. I wasn't entirely sure what to do. I had never had to deal with children much in my life.

Now she looked up from the floor. "I miss Ian!" She cried.

I opened my arms to hug her and she jumped into them and hugged my neck tightly. It seemed she was not as cavalier as her brother when it came to Christian's absence. I just hugged her for a few moments while she cried into my shoulder. "He's not the same," She mumbled in my shoulder. "He never has time for me and Curtis anymore. We used to play all the time and now he's never around. He doesn't even want to do anything with me anymore. I've tried playing games with him and he just seems bored all the time. He doesn't even joke with me like he used to. I don't think he likes me."

I squeezed her tighter. Her older brother was growing up and leaving her behind. "Christian still loves you. I know he does. You should have heard the way he talked about you yesterday. He was so proud. He's growing up and your father is going to give him more responsibilities now."

"I don't like it." She let go of me and wiped her face on the back of her hand. Her eyes were red from crying.

I put my hands on her shoulders. "I don't imagine you do. It's not very nice when someone seems to be going away, but your brother is still here and you can see him and tell him that you miss him. I'd bet he's missing you too sometimes."

"You think so?" She had stopped crying now.

I smiled. "Of course he is. Who wouldn't miss you?"

Now she gave me a small smile. "I guess that's true. I am pretty amazing."

"That's right, and don't you forget it!" I gave her shoulder a squeeze before getting back on the pedestal so the tailor could finish.

Only a few more pricks with the needle and the dress was ready to be sewn to my exact measurements. I dressed back in my original outfit white the tailor made quick work on the sewing. I was impressed by how quickly the man worked. He was completely done by the time I was ready to buy the dress. Curtis had picked a very good shop; each of us had found at least something. Clover had found a lovely black and white dress for herself and Curtis had picked out a couple of tunics. When we took the boxes to the clerk to be paid for, I was amazed to see the tiny Crimson seem to pull a purse of money out of thin air.

Curtis noticed me watching the little fairy and whispered, "Yeah, she does that. It's really neat when she's not twisting my ear off." I could tell by his wince that Crimson had heard him and done just that.

Once we were outside the shop Crimson fluttered in front of us. She was very business-like as she told us how she saw things. "Now, it is almost midafternoon. We have frittered the day away and the sun is nearly set. Now Curtis has all his dress clothes for the ball because Prince Christian has given him an old mask of his to wear, but Clover has no mask. We have to find her one to match the dress before the day is out. Miss Ebony, feel free to go on your way. You have been a great joy to have on our little shopping endeavor but I feel that I cannot force you to stay if you have other places to be."

Clover grabbed my hand and pleaded, "Oh, please don't go, Ebony!"

She was quickly joined by her brother, "Yeah, it's only one more little shop. It won't take any time at all."

I laughed at their eagerness to keep me around. I was happy to continue to shop with them; after all I needed a mask too. I told them I would go with them to the mask shop and look at masks. Crimson suggested that we put our purchases in the royal carriage so we wouldn't have to bother carrying them. So after the quick stop at the carriage we found ourselves in the Happy Mask Shop. Crimson was strict as to not allow us to joke around in the masks as we had done in the dress shop with the ugly dresses. It seemed she was to have the prince and princess home by a certain time and she wanted to get everything done. Having nothing to look at himself, Curtis followed me as I looked at masks. Clover was excitedly looking at masks displayed in a glass case to the side of the store.

"You should wear this one," Curtis told me as he held up a lion's mask with large tan feathers sticking out all around the roaring lion's face. He made sure that Crimson was paying attention to his sister so he would not get scolded.

I laughed and took the mask from him. I held it up to my own face and roared. "I'm not sure in the appropriate mask for a black and white ball." I returned the lion to its stand.

After examining what felt like every mask in the shop, I decided on a white mask that was overlaid in black lace. It was simple but elegant. Curtis approved my option, but I think he just wanted to get out of the shop and go home. Clover came rushing over to me wearing a white butterfly mask with glittery designs pained around it. It seemed we had all found what we were looking for, and in good time. Crimson would be happy. We bought the masks and soon they joined our other purchases at the carriage.

"Where are you headed to next?" Crimson asked. Curtis and Clover has already climbed in the carriage. "Perhaps we could give you a ride in the carriage, if it is on the way."

I had not thought about carrying the things I bought back to the inn by myself. It would have been quite cumbersome. "I'm staying at the Gilded Leopard currently. It is a few streets over."

"Then you can ride with us. As it happens I have a message to deliver to another guest of the inn." Crimson fluttered into the carriage and I followed.

It was a short ride to the Gilded Leopard. The carriage stopped in front of the wide steps and Crimson made sure that the prince and princess stayed in the carriage while she delivered the message. They protested, but she threatened to use some fairy spell to make sure they stayed put. So we said our goodbyes in the carriage and they told me they would be looking for me at the first ball. I climbed out of the carriage and an attendant hurried over to help me with my packages. Crimson just nodded once to me before she zipped through the front doors. The man who Giselle had been seen flirting with at mealtimes was leaving through the doors at the same time Crimson flew in. He saw me and tipped his hat politely before going on his way. I tried to remember his name, if I remembered correctly it was Jack. I returned the greeting and then the attendant carried my gown and mask up to my room.

Giselle and Victoria still seemed to be out shopping when I returned. It would be good to get a bit of peace before they came back and endlessly complained about their day with Dewey. So of course I was surprised when the door slammed open and Giselle stormed in and shouted, "You little rat!"

* * *

I just have one thing to say about this chapter - ugh.

(I should mention one of my favorite websites that gives me ideas for pretty gowns, newyorkdress)


	18. Letters

"You foul, loathsome rat," She continued. I sat up and looked at her as she loomed over me in my chair. She waved a finger in my face. "No, you are lower than a rat, you are a worm – an evil little worm determined to ruin everything for me!"

I had no idea what she was talking about. She couldn't have been mad about my day with Christian still. I thought Dewey would have made her forget about that. Victoria came in and put a hand on her sister's arm to calm her down. Giselle's face changed into a pout as she stepped back and crossed her arms. She did not stop glaring at me while her sister spoke. "You are in trouble this time, Ebony. How dare you go behind your sister's back? You probably planned this all along. You probably had a good laugh with that boy Dewitt about it, didn't you?"

My eyes widened at whatever Victoria was saying as she took her sister's place and leaned over me. It made no sense to me. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I like Dewey as much as you do."

"Liar!" Giselle spat from behind her sister. Whatever I had done had made her as furious as I had ever seen her, but for the life of me I had no idea what they were talking about. Why would I be conspiring against them with Dewey of all people?

Victoria ignored her sister's hysterics. "You are a terrible liar. You know exactly what you did. You probably spent the whole day laughing with the prince about it while Dewey was with us. I can't believe you have the nerve to still chase him like a fool. What did you two do today other than joke at our expense?"

I shook my head, clearly they had gone insane. I had spent the day with a prince, but definitely not Christian as they seemed to think. Now that I thought about it we had spent some of the day laughing over Dewey's mother and her alleged dresses, but Victoria and Giselle wouldn't know about that. Even if they did, they would not be this angry. "What are you talking about?" I asked totally confused.

Victoria straightened up and crossed her arms. "So you are willing to deny it? That it wasn't you who Jack saw exiting a royal carriage this evening? That maybe it was some other girl who looked exactly like you? You really are stupid aren't you? We know you spent the day going behind our backs and gallivanting about with Christian. You were probably thrilled when you found out Giselle would be out of the way with Dewey so you could move in on the prince."

I laughed. It was not the response they were expecting and seemed to make them even angrier so I quickly stopped to explain. "You have it all wrong. I was shopping with Prince Curtis and Princess Clover. I haven't see Christian since yesterday."

Giselle scoffed and went to her room. Victoria continued to scowl at me. It was obvious neither of them believed me. They had their crazy idea and wouldn't listen to reason. Now when Victoria spoke, her voice was icy, "Since you obviously cannot be trusted, I am forcing you to stay here in this room all day tomorrow and the next until the ball. Elle and I will be staying in as well to rest before the mask so don't even think of trying any tricks to try and go out and meet the prince."

I stood up in indignation. She couldn't force me to stay locked up. "I will do no such thing!"

She walked over to where the box with my new dress lay on the floor. "You will or you will not be going to the ball at all." My mouth hung open as she took my dress into her room. I could not believe it; she was holding my dress hostage. Only my stepsister would think of such a thing. She closed the door behind her. When I tried to follow, I found that she locked it as well. I shouted through the wood, but she ignored me. I truly hoped she wouldn't destroy my dress, it was the first time I had ever felt so strongly about a piece of clothing. It really was perfect and already I loved it. I knew the fact that Victoria threatened to destroy my only dress for the first ball would make me do what she said. Sure, I could go against her wishes and go out to buy a new dress but I could barely find anything yesterday. Besides, I desperately wanted Christian to see me wearing that specific dress. I would never admit it openly, but I had already imagined a thousand scenarios where all eyes were on me when I entered the ball room and Christian fell in love with how beautiful I was.

I reasoned that I had not planned to go anywhere tomorrow anyway so it would be good to rest up for the ball as Victoria had said. Maybe I would write a letter to my brother Andrew in my spare time. It had been ages since I last wrote him. Even though his patrol kept him traveling around the kingdom, I sent my letters to a man who could get them delivered to the correct person. Occasionally, I would even get a return letter from him telling me of his adventures being a knight. He had told me before he left that no matter where he was he would always be thinking of me and waiting impatiently for my letters. The last part made me laugh and I promised to write him twice every day. Over the years I had fallen into a pattern of only writing to him twice a week, but since arriving in Pharyss I had not written him once. It was decided; tomorrow I would take time to write to my brother about my adventures. Little did Victoria know, but she was actually doing me a favor by making me stay in all day. If she hadn't I probably wouldn't have written Andrew during the entire trip to Pharyss.

The next day, I was not the only one writing letters. After Giselle and Victoria escorted me to lunch and back to the room, all three of us took quill and parchment to write. As I sat down to write at a small desk in the sitting room, Giselle and Victoria both glared at me and went into their respective rooms. Victoria left her door open to remind me that she was still watching and I still had to stay in the room. I rolled my eyes and started my letter:

Dear Andrew,

It has been far too long since I have written you. I hope you have not died gloriously in battle since then. I will be quite put out if someone else reads my letter and not you. Is that knight still giving you trouble? I remember you wrote that there was a young prick of a knight in your patrol who didn't know his stirrup from his sword. I hope you have straightened him out since then.

I wish you were here with me in Pharyss now and not out patrolling all the time. Surely they could use more brave knights in the royal city now during the festival. That's right I am in the capital city now with our wicked stepsisters. They are being rather cruel and making me stay in and away from the prince. I can see your face now at that last line. It is true; we have made friends with the royal family. Through a lucky turn of events Giselle and Victoria have made friends with the princess, and I with the three youngest royals. They came across our carriage along the side of the road after a wheel broke. Prince Christian was even kind enough to get us rooms at the Gilded Leopard. Just yesterday I spent the day with Princess Clover and Prince Curtis and the day before that I spent with Prince Christian himself! I wish you could have seen how green Giselle is with envy over my day with the prince. She practically had smoke coming out of her ears. If you convince your superiors that you need to come see me in the royal city, I may even tell you about it all in greater detail.

The celebration hasn't even started yet and already I have seen some of the most wonderful things. Did you know there is a substance that flows like water, floats like air, and glows like starlight? It is amazing. There is also a zoo here that is filled with so many horrible and fantastic creatures. I went to see them all a few days ago. They had white peacocks and dragons and elephants and mermaids. That was where I met the younger royals for the first time. They were following me, you see. And do you know why? They had recognized me from what their older brother had said! Prince Christian was talking about your little sister, can you believe it? I barely could. They are an odd pair, to be sure. Their nurse fairy has trouble keeping them in line and they are always getting themselves into trouble. Do they sound familiar to another brother and sister pair you have heard of? The way Crimson scolds them reminds me of the way Dame Helga used to scold us for running amok.

It's just like it is in Lyscos. Giselle and Victoria are still fawned over by nearly everyone they meet. Well, almost everyone. There was one Adellian lady that did not take kindly to their childish ways. I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that Christian prefers my company to theirs. I have been lucky enough to have been able to avoid them for the most part. They spent nearly every day at the castle since we arrived helping the princess with her wedding and planning. Princess Joslynn was nice enough for the few times I met her, I do not see how she could have endured the stepsisters every day though. They are trying so hard to weasel their way into the royal family's good graces that they even spent a day with the most annoying person I have ever met. He is even more annoying than Shemar from the mill. I nearly died of laughter when they said they would be spending a day with him. He is the prince's cousin who just arrived in town. His name is Dewitt, but Christian calls him Dewey. He talks in such a strange way about the importance of manners. No matter what the subject, he refers to his mother or manners at least twice.

I know it is an already expressed sentiment, but I really wish you were here to see all this with me. I have so much I want to tell you and I feel my stories got jumbled up in this letter. I want to know what you would say about Dewey and the stepsisters. I wouldn't even mind giving up this lavish inn we are staying at to stay in a rundown tavern with you. It has been far too long since you last visited. I was not joking when I said find a way to come to Pharyss and see the celebration with me. You could even escort me to the balls and keep away my numerous admirers, anything just as long as you come.

Your loving sister,  
Ebony Valix

I returned the quill to the inkwell and looked over my letter. Even if it was a slim chance that Andrew could come to Pharyss, I hoped it would happen and I would see my brother. I carefully folded the parchment and slipped it into an envelope before melting the wax seal over it. Giselle had been out once to get more paper to write on and I could see Victoria sitting at her desk. There was no way she would let me take my letter the box in the foyer without her. So I addressed the letter and waited for her or Giselle to be done…and waited and waited and waited. Victoria must have been writing a novel. Giselle had shut herself in her room and refused to even look at me.

Finally Victoria stood and picked up her numerous envelopes. She must have written a letter to every single person in Lyscos. Giselle's stack was nearly as large as her sister's. It had taken them the entire day to write and the sun had long ago set. When I inquired about dinner, Victoria scowled and said we weren't having any. I was glad I had eaten an ample amount at lunch when she gathered up all the letters. She wasn't happy, but she let me come with her to post the letters.

Once we returned to the room, she announced that it was time for bed in a way that said she wanted me to go to bed as well. I pretended like I was going to do as she said and pulled out my nightclothes. I even threw in a few fake yawns. Satisfied she closed the door to her room as she prepared for bed. In truth there was no way I could sleep with the anticipation for the next day. Besides it was the final day before the first day of the monumental festivity and that meant the biggest show of fireworks I have ever seen and it was barely even dark yet. I wasn't going to miss that by sleeping. I also planned to get my dress back before then as well.

* * *

So the start of the celebration is just around the corner - a black and white masked ball.


	19. The Belltower

By the time the sun had set, my stepsisters were already fast asleep and I was ready to sneak out for the night. I grinned to myself at how Victoria thought she had so much power over me that I would obey her every command. She had hoped to ruin my day; instead she made it all the more exciting. My heart raced as I slipped into Victoria's darkened room to retrieve my stolen dress. She had never been the most imaginative of people so it was simple to locate where she had hidden the dress box, but it was another matter of how I would get it out of the room. It looked like she had dumped her entire jewelry case on the box lid. It would be very difficult to remove everything without making an awful lot noise. I took a deep breath and began removing the rings since they were most likely not tangled with anything else. Fortunately, Victoria had laid the box near the window so I could see just enough to move the jewelry. I carefully laid the jewelry on the floor beside me. Victoria would not be happy when she woke to find a pile of jewelry and no dress.

I pulled a particularly long necklace wrong and a heavy brass bracelet thudded to the floor with an all-too-loud thud. I froze and peeked over my shoulder at the sleeping girl in the bed. Victoria did not stir other than to pull the sheets closer around her. I let out the breath I had been holding. I had thought for sure I was caught, but I continued to remove the tangle of earrings and necklaces carefully. Once I made sure that only a tangle of necklaces remained, I just scooped them all up and laid them on the pile. My dress was free and so was I. I tiptoed back out of Victoria's room and hid the dress box outside on the balcony behind the large statue of a crocodile. I was fairly certain it would not rain tonight so my dress would be safe. Now it was time for fireworks.

As quietly as I could manage I changed out of my nightclothes and into a pair of men's breeches and tunic my brother had given me years ago. The outfit was well worn, but still good. It was what I always wore in the woods with Andrew when we climbed trees and ran around. It was much easier to move about in than a woman's dress. I slipped boots on and hurried out of the inn. There was practically no one around as I dashed out into the street. The only people I saw on my way down the stairs were a pair of guards dozily standing at the doors. They jolted up as I skipped past them, but they did not stop me. The street was more crowded. It seemed I was not the only one who went out to see the fireworks. I would have to find a good vantage point to view the sky. I could already hear the first few booms and barely see the flashes over the rooftops.

I had to force myself to not skip merrily down the street and walk normally. The fireworks were lighting the sky and tomorrow I would attend a royal ball that would start the princess's wedding celebration. I was sure Giselle, Victoria, or anyone else could bring me down on this night. I looked for somewhere to see the fireworks from. I knew that there was a more rundown section of the city near the Gilded Leopard so that was where I went. There were less tall buildings there. The Old Town, as it was called, reminded me of the lower city that we had passed on the day of our arrival. The buildings here were not large and elegant, but more homely. I could see the fireworks better from the Old Town, but not well enough to suit me. There had to be some building that would raise me above the rooftops to see the glittering night sky.

I saw it from a street away. There was an old church with a bell tower. Surely that would be high enough. I briskly walked to the other street. It seemed the church had been abandoned; a few of the stained glass windows were broken and no light came from inside. Deciding it was abandoned; I gingerly pushed on the large oak door and went into the church. It was a very small building with only a chapel and perhaps a couple of antechambers. The steps to the bell tower were near the front door and easy to find. They were made out of wooden planks and I was not sure how stable they would be. I slowly put one foot on the first one. It did not break so I went up another and another. At the top there was a thin platform that circled where a bell once hung. The four open windows on either side provided me with a lovely view of the town, but I did not come to see the town. I looked out at the fireworks. Rainbows of color were exploding over the castle. Some of the explosions ended in sparkles or flittering colors that danced against the black of the night sky. I leaned on the sill and placed my head in my hands. It was because of this position that I did not see the person coming up the steps.

"Who are you?" A voice asked. I jumped and spun around.

A tall man about my age stood opposite of me on the platform. He wore a white shirt that loosely hung off his thin frame and dark breeches similar to mine. His straight blond hair hung slightly over his eyes and an impish smile danced on his lips. His nose pointed upwards, adding to his impish face. He leaned on the railing and looked across the gap at me. The light of a particularly bright firework lit his face. I gasped when I saw that his eyes were black. They weren't small and beady like a rat though. This man's eyes were alert and sparkling. It looked as if he was on the verge of laughing, and I found it unsettling.

"Who are you?" I asked him in return. He did not seem trustworthy to me. People who lurked around abandoned churches couldn't be part of polite society.

Now he laughed a clear ringing laugh. "I asked you first, if you recall. Besides this happens to be my bell tower so I think you should tell me who you are."

I tilted my head in defiance. I wasn't going to let myself be afraid of this person. "This is an abandoned church, it doesn't belong to anyone."

He stood up straight as if to walk over to my side of the bell tower. "Of course it's mine. This is where I come to see the fireworks – my very own front row seat to the show. It seems I will be sharing it tonight though, not that I mind."

He didn't move from his spot, but his black eyes stayed focused on me. Not knowing what to say, I just repeated my question, "Who are you?"

He rolled his eyes and brushed his hair out of his face. There was a playful lilt to his lips. "If I tell you, then you have to promise to give me the same courtesy." I nodded. "Very well, my name is Kol. It's like kohl, the black powder used as makeup for eyes, but spelled differently."

I looked at his eyes. It suited him; his eyes were as black as any makeup I had ever seen. He tilted his head towards me, wanting me to tell him my name. "I'm Ebony."

For a moment he looked surprised, but then he smiled broadly. "How curious it is that we both have names that relate to the color black, don't you think so, Ebb?"

"It's Ebony," I corrected. "Perhaps it is a bit odd."

I stepped back when he came over to stand on my side of the platform. The flash from the fireworks cast his face in an odd mix of light and shadow. I conceded that he was not unattractive to look at. His jaw was angular and his features made him look wickedly mischievous. I shook my head; I did not know him at all. I shouldn't be focusing on how handsome this stranger was. He looked out the window. "Is this your first time to see the fireworks?"

I did not return to where I was standing before at the window. It was too small a space for both of us to look out at the same time unless we were awkwardly close together. He did not seem dangerous, but I couldn't be too wary. "This is my first time in the king's city. My stepsisters and I arrived two months ago for the royal celebration."

Kol snorted. "I thought so," He muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?"

He took a deep breath and held up his hands in an almost defensive position. "Now, Ebb, I think we can be great mates. We obviously both have very good taste in firework watching locations. I want you to respect our new friendship and keep that in mind with what I have to tell you. Also know that I am sorry and that it was for a good cause and if I knew that I was actually going to meet you at some point that I would have done the exact same thing all over again."

I didn't understand what he was saying; it didn't make sense. "I've never met you before," I said slowly. "We can't be friends already."

"In honor of our potential friendship, know that if we can get past this we can get past anything and are destined to be friends for life. I actually have met you before, once. You see I am cursed with hopelessly light fingers and when I see some poor lass with her coin purse out in the open I just can't resist. I am willing to repay what I stole in friendship." Kol explained.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This street urchin was the one who pick pocketed me! I could feel myself getting angry. "It was you who stole my money?" I shouted.

Kol still had his hands up. "Ebb, there is no need to get upset over this. There were only a few copper coins in it - hardly worth the bag it was in. I would have gone for the other bag you so carelessly hung next to the coin purse, but I thought you would want to keep your purchase."

"You should have taken that one." I mumbled. I must have had the most rotten luck to meet this thief in a church bell tower of all places.

One corner of his mouth twitched up in the beginnings of a smile. "I'll keep that in mind for next time."

I looked up to glare at him and laughed at the absurdity of it all. He had gone through all the trouble of stealing a few coppers but to be nice he let me keep what I bought when I had wanted him to steal the more expensive item. Then to meet that same person in the most random of places, it was all just so strange. I chalked it up to being one of the many strange things that I was sure would happen while I was in Pharyss. I found I couldn't stay mad, even at the man who stole from me. I was still too excited for the ball to let anything bring me down. "How about you just stop stealing from people?"

Kol grinned, "Would that I could, Ebb. But as I mentioned before, I'm a hopeless thief."

"And here I am in a bell tower with you, I must be insane. I've only just met you and the only thing I know about you is that you are a thief."

He shook his head indignantly. "No, that is not all you know about me. I told you my name."

I rolled my eyes and leaned on the railing, "Since I know you so well, I guess I can just-"

I didn't get to finish my sentence because the railing splintered underneath me and I pitched forward and fell off the platform. I was so surprised I didn't even scream.

* * *

And thus Ebony plunged to her doom.

The end.

I'm just kidding. I'm having way too much fun to end it so soon. It's like I want to write right now, but then I also have to sleep and if I did start writing the next chapter would be up in a few hours and I'm not trying to go for a record of how many chapters I can write in a day.

If I don't update before Valentine's Day, just know I love you all!


	20. By Lamplight

I closed my eyes and waited to land on the unforgiving stone floor, but instead it was barely a moment before I wasn't falling anymore. A strong hand had itself wrapped tightly around my ankle in an iron grip. I opened my eyes and looked up. Kol was leaning over the edge holding me with one hand and the other was gripping the sill of one of the windows. His face was pinched by the strain of holding my weight and with the stretch that it must have been to hold me and the sill. I watched as he braced himself and started to pull me upwards. Then my foot started to slip out of my boot. Kol noticed this and froze. His grip on my ankle tightened even more and the inside of my boot chafed my skin, not that I minded. He had probably just saved my life.

Kol took a deep breath and gritted out, "Alright, now I am going to let go of the window and try not to fall down after you. I need to use both hands to get your heavy self back up here."

I craned my neck to see him. "Hey, I am not that heavy!"

My body lurched as he let go of the window, but his other hand quickly grabbed my ankle and he steadied himself. He was leaning back now so he wouldn't fall. His voice was still strained though, "I just saved your life, don't argue with me."

He started to pull me up again, hand over hand this time. Once he got my half of my legs over the ledge, I reached up and he grabbed my hands and pulled me the rest of the way up. He fell back against the wall and I scrambled into the corner as far away from the ledge as I could get. My heart was hammering wildly in my chest and he was breathing heavily. He turned his head to look at me. "Let's not do that again."

I looked warily at the edge where the railing had broken. "I wasn't planning on it."

The fireworks were still going on outside while I tried to calm my fluttering heart. Kol was a thief but he had also saved my life. I did not know what to think of him. I glanced over at where he leaned on the wall. His eyes were closed and he almost looked as if he was asleep then a particularly loud boom made him open his eyes and jump to his feet. I watched from my corner as he ran to the window facing the fireworks. "Get up, you're missing it!" His face was being lit in different colors for each firework that went off.

I wrapped my arms around my legs, I didn't want to stand up and risk falling on my still-shaky legs. "No, I'm fine right here."

He sighed and skipped over to where I sat. He grabbed one of my hands and yanked me to my feet. When I tried to sit back down he wouldn't let me Even though he wasn't fully smiling, the way his mouth curved made it seem like he was. His eyes danced as he pulled me to the window. "You came to Pharyss to see the celebration, well this is it. You shouldn't miss a moment of it."

As I looked at the sky I forgot about how scared I was just a few moments ago. The sky above the castle was grey with the smoke from the previous fireworks and the shapes left by some drifted about in the wind before breaking apart. The golden fireworks glittered in the sky accompanied by silver sparkles that looked like hundreds of stars. Red and orange fireworks flickered like bursts of flames against the black of night. Blue and green sparks fluttered around like butterflies in between the other fireworks. Each new firework was something new and different that took my breath away. Some of the fireworks made complex shapes in the sky. There was a dancing couple, a knight charging forward on a horse, and even a dragon that circled around the other fireworks. The show ended with white and gold fireworks forming the royal crest in the sky with a sound like thunder. Then the sky was dark, but the outline of the crest could still be seen in the smoke. I leaned on the window sill and sighed. It was almost too good to be true. I was in Pharyss, tomorrow I would be attending a royal ball, and who knew what else this city had to offer in the days of celebration that followed.

"Have you seen the lamp posts?" Kol asked suddenly. It broke me out of my reverie.

I stood up and nodded. Christian had taken me there. He told me that once the celebration started they would be lit up every night with many colors. "I haven't seen them lit before."

"Then let's go!" He called over his shoulder as he dashed around to the stairs. I was slower to follow, sticking close to the wall and as far away from where I could fall as possible. Kol stopped at the stairs to watch me. "Hurry up, if you go this slowly it's going to be morning by the time we get there and we'll miss it."

"I never said I would go to the square with you. I just want to get out of the tower now since the fireworks are over." I joined him at the top of the stairs.

I jumped when he snatched my hand up and began rushing down the stairs. Now that the fireworks were over, it was much darker. Kol seemed to be very sure-footed as he raced down the stairs, while I was doing my best not to fall. "You have to see the lights. It's really not very far away. You'll be glad you did when we get there."

Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, he dropped my hand and went out the door. I suppose he just expected me to follow him. I had just gone out to see the fireworks. I wanted to return to the Gilded Leopard so I could get plenty of sleep before the ball and look my best. Besides, I was secretly hoping that it would be Christian who took me to see the lamp posts. "I really have to get back." I pointed over my shoulder in the direction of the hotel.

Kol was already a ways down the street. He turned to look at me and tilted his head to one side. "It really isn't that late yet. If you don't go tonight you will miss the party that is going on there right now. There is music and dancing. It's one of the first unofficial events of the celebration. I came from there to see the fireworks from the best spot and now I am going to go back. But if you want to return and sleep the night away and miss out, suit yourself."

Kol shrugged and began jauntily walking down the street. For a moment I was conflicted about whether I should go with him to the party. It did sound like a good time and I wanted to see the lamps at night. Kol was getting farther and farther away. He was whistling now and swatting at banners that hung between the buildings. I shook my head. No, he was still a stranger. Who knew if he was actually telling the truth, but he had saved my life. He didn't seem to mean me any harm, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to wander the town alone at night with him. Making my decision, I turned and walked in the opposite direction as Kol.

I passed a group of people who were heading to the party Kol had told me about. They were laughing and joking and talking about the light posts. For a moment I considered turning around to go and see what was happening in that square. The way people talked about it made it seem exciting. I didn't turn though and continued my journey back the Gilded Leopard.

There were fewer people in the streets than when I had first left the inn. It seemed I was not the only one who wanted to rest for the ball tomorrow night. The upper city was occupied by the wealthiest of Pharyss so it was likely that a large number of them would be in attendance. I passed a few more groups of people who were on the way to the square where the party was to be held. With the Gilded Leopard just down the street, I passed the old couple walking down the street. It was the couple who had met at the other celebration years ago. The woman was leaning on her husband's arm and they were talking about the party. It seemed they were also on their way to the square.

"Do you remember our first day at the lamp post square, my love? I saw you dancing in between the lights with that other man and I wished that it was me that you were smiling so happily at. I have cherished your smiles." The man said.

His wife laid her head against his shoulder and smiled at the memory. "That would have been Graden I was dancing with, if I remember correctly. He was quite the charmer when I first met him. I had known him for a week and I thought he was absolutely perfect." The woman laughed, "He thought the duke's daughter was perfect as well. That was the last night I talked to him. When he left was when I noticed you, dear. You were so awkward standing off to the side watching all the dancers. I don't recall seeing you dance once."

The man gave his wife a kiss on her grey head. "That was because I didn't know how to; I learned so I could dance with you."

"I'm so very glad you did," the woman sighed and the couple continued down the street.

I smiled. Their story was so romantic. I wondered how many other people had similar stories to theirs.

* * *

For these past two chapters I have been terrible about replying to my reviews. I finally replied to them all though like a week late.

There's more romantic old couple from awhile ago. They will probably continue to randomly pop up and reminisce about how they fell in love.


	21. Lessons

The day of the first ball arrived. I slept until late into the morning, despite my excitement. It seemed the previous night had worn me out more than I thought. Giselle and Victoria's mad rushing about didn't even wake me. They had found some maids from the inn to serve as their ladies in waiting. Neither of them even acknowledged me when I slipped into the washroom to get dressed. I did not dress in my ball gown; I would change into that before the ball. I was just playing with my hair in the mirror when someone banged quite violently on the door.

"Ebony, get out of there! Stop hogging the washroom!" It was Giselle who was hollering at me through the door. "And someone is here demanding to see you!"

I looked at my surprised face in the mirror for a moment before I opened the door to a very angry looking Giselle. "Who wants to see me?"

Giselle huffed and shouldered past me. "I don't know who she is. Now get out; there is only ten hours before the ball starts."

The maid she had assigned as her lady in waiting followed her into the room and even gave me a sympathetic look as she passed. I was barely out of the door when it slammed shut behind me. Giselle had not answered my question. Victoria was sitting at her vanity having her maid brush her hair. Victoria was making faces at herself in the mirror and the movement of her head was making it difficult for the maid to not pull her hair. I rolled my eyes. She was already beautiful; she did not have to amplify her beauty by finding her most lovely angle.

Only ten hours until the ball Giselle had said. I didn't see what would possibly be done to get them ready that would take ten hours. The most I was giving myself to get ready was two. I remembered that someone was waiting for me in the sitting room and went out to see who it was.

I was greeted by a large woman in an even larger light pink dress sitting primly in one of the chairs. At first I did not realize who she was, but she seemed familiar. Then I remembered. She was the woman who had spoken out the other day when the royal coachman had come to fetch me from breakfast. She had her gloved hands propped up on a cane in front of her and her grey hair was piled quite haphazardly on top of her head. When I entered the room she sniffed. "Well, you took your time coming to greet your guest. It is proper to curtsy before a lady, girl."

I bobbed a short curtsy and apologized for my rudeness. I did not know why this woman was here to see me. I had never actually spoken to her in all my time at the Gilded Leopard. She stood an introduced herself. "I see that you are worse than I thought. I am the Duchess Elaina Frow and I am here to help you prepare for the ball. I saw your absolutely appalling display two days ago and since you are acquainted with the prince you must be instructed in better manners. So grab your ball clothes, for you will be spending the day with me being instructed in how to conduct yourself properly tonight. Now what is your name?"

"I am called Ebony. I don't think—", I started, but Duchess Frow was quick to cut me off.

"That is the point, girl, you don't think and if you are going to be seen with our young prince then you must act the part. I have already spoken to your lovely sister and you will not be missed. She thinks it is a superb idea. I have discussed it with my circle of friends here and they all agree that you need to learn some manners before tonight. I will also make sure you do not make a fool of yourself and make sure you dress properly. Get your things!" She finished with a snap.

Not knowing what else to do, I hurried to get my gown, shoes, and mask. I had not planned on wearing much in the way of jewelry. The Duchess insisted on seeing my dress before she took me wherever we were going. She gave a small nod of approval when I showed her and commented that I was not a complete simpleton. Two proper ladies in waiting were waiting in the hall and followed me as I followed Duchess Frow.

As we walked I worked up the nerve to question the demanding Duchess. "I am grateful for the interest that you are giving me, but I am still not sure that it is entirely warranted."

The Duchess did not slow her step in the least and didn't even look back at me. "I have already explained, if you are going to be seen with the royal family in public then you must act the part. I am intimately acquainted with her majesty the queen and I could not bear it if she found out her son is fraternizing with the wrong sort. I have seen how delightful your sisters are with people so I hope that you will not be entirely useless at socializing properly."

I frowned. She could not make it more obvious that she thought of me as little more than some uncivilized wild girl who had just rolled in from the middle of the woods. I did not like her speaking to me so and was not sure I wanted to spend the few hours before the ball in her presence. "I have been trained in etiquette." I retaliated.

"Good, so I will not have to start from scratch. Now go in here and my maids will help you clean up." Duchess Frow had opened a door that had a golden nameplate that read Macaw Room. I was surprised by the garish amount of bright red that was the dominant color in the room with splashes of blue and yellow. I much preferred the more singular color scheme of the Crocodile Room. The Duchess did not seem to mind and walked right in and sat down on a large couch with feather print.

I was herded into the washroom. In this suite there was only one bedroom, a washroom, and the main sitting area that opened onto the balcony. The maids were all business as they closed the door and began hurriedly undressing me. One removed my clothes while the other prepared the bath by mixing a number of soaps into the water that was gushing forth from a golden spout in the wall. I had not been waited on in this manner since my family's governess had left when Giselle and I had turned thirteen. I cannot say that I missed it one bit. I tried to inform the two women that I was perfectly capable of undressing myself but they paid me no heed.

After manhandling me into the tub and enthusiastically scrubbing me until I was sure that the entire top layer of skin was gone, they let me dry off and dress myself. The Duchess was still sitting imperiously in her chair and she had a small black dog sitting in her lap. The dog was little more than a puff of fur with a golden collar. She asked me to spin around for her and examined me until she decided that I was now properly clean. "Very good, girl, now I will outline for you what I have planned today. It is important that I train you in all the pertinent areas in the eight and a half hours that remain until we must be off for the palace. Of course you shall ride in your own carriage then and arrive with your family as it should be. Now I will be sending you to the ballroom here to perfect your dancing. Two hours is hardly enough time to properly learn everything so I hope that you are not unskilled. Then I will spend an hour teaching you how to properly speak to the other people at the ball until my most intimate friends arrive for dinner. Our dinner will be light so as not to weigh us down before the ball. Then we shall spend the rest of the time preparing for the ball itself. Now hurry to the ballroom where Gillian is waiting for you."

I did my best to try and convince the meddlesome Duchess that this was all too much but she wouldn't hear it. When I tried protesting she sent me away with one of her maids to the ballroom so I couldn't bother her anymore. The maid grabbed my arm and I had little choice as we went down to the ballroom.

Gillian turned out to be harsh-looking woman who looked annoyed when we entered. She stood ramrod straight in the center of the dance floor and was squinting at a small golden watch that was hanging from a chain around her neck. "You're late." She announced stiffly. She reminded me of a governess that my stepsisters and I used to have.

The maid left me with Gillian and returned to her mistress. I figured that explaining how unnecessary it all was to Gillian would be even more useless than it had been before when I explained it to Duchess Frow. Gillian went straight into instructing me with herself as my partner. She was a stern teacher who forced me into the proper steps by pushing me in the proper direction. More than I few times I stepped on her feet when she unexpectedly moved in a step I had not learned. Most of the dances she showed me were ones I had already learned with a few small changes. It did not take me long to learn the changes for each dance but Gillian seemed to have an endless list of dances to go over. She also insisted that I repeat each dance at least three times which ate up our two hours quite quickly. Then I was being whisked back the Duchess Frow's room by her maid.

The hour when the Duchess was having me speak was even worse than the two I had spent with Gillian. She wanted me to stand uncomfortably straight, almost to the point where I was bending backwards, and speak loudly and proudly. After a few minutes of her inane instruction, I knew there was no possible way that I would speak like this at the ball. For now I would just play along and do what the Duchess said so it wouldn't drag on longer than it had to.

Much to my relief one of the Duchess's friends arrived early and cut short the speaking instruction. The woman who arrived was just as large as Duchess Frow and seemed to have similar taste in style as she wore a large green dress with an excessive amount of lace. Her name was Madame Mellie Mott, which I found to be a silly name. Madame Mott spoke of her daughter who would also be attending the ball. Apparently her daughter was causing her grief by spending entirely too much time with one of her friends. Madame Mott said she thought the friend was being a bad influence on her daughter and going to make it impossible for her to find a nice husband. It seemed the Madame and the Duchess had already had this conversation about the daughter because they did not mention how the other girl was being a bad influence; they both just seemed to know. Madame Mott was becoming quite upset as she went on when the rest of Duchess Frow's friends arrived.

There were two other women who arrived with a man. I only caught their first names, Frieda, Beatrice, and Walt. With the rest of her friends present, the conversation turned to me after they all greeted each other. Their probing eyes made me shift uncomfortably in my seat while they asked me questions and discussed amongst themselves. At least when it was just Duchess Frow and Madame Mott, I was left to sit quietly and not have every detail of my appearance discussed.

"Tell them your name, girl." The Duchess ordered.

I did as she said and they launched into their assessment of me. The middle aged gentleman, Walt, seemed to think I was a charming specimen of a girl and a delight to be around. The women were quick to dismiss his opinion and he returned to sitting quietly and sipping his tea. He must have just come on the whim of his sister, Beatrice. She was too thin with a rather large beak-like nose and a tiny chin. Even though it was unkind of me, I thought her short grey hair made her look like a goose. I justified my rude thoughts by the fact that they were openly discussing my flaws in front of me. Her opinion was that I was much too plain and that it would be difficult to make me look like someone worthy of the royal family.

"Look at the drab color of her hair. It is just too brown. That along with the appalling tan of her skin and the fact she is shaped like a boy make her hardly anything special." Beatrice said. I clenched my jaw at her hurtful words so I did not say something they would make me regret.

"Now, now, Bea, she is not as bad as all that. I don't see how her being a few shades darker than the average girl makes any difference." Her brother comforted. I decided the brother was lovely while the sister was absolutely horrendous.

"You always have been too harsh." The other woman, Frieda, commented quietly. She was a tiny old woman who had fly away grey hair and wrinkled skin. "The girl does have some redeemable qualities. There is a bit of shape to her that may look quite lovely in some dresses. If that is Ebony's dress hanging there, then I think she will look lovely."

The others seemed apt to listen to Frieda's assessment and nodded in agreement. It was as if they completely dismissed all their other opinion to please the tiny woman who sat between them.

The discussion went on until dinner was brought on two silver trolleys by the hotel staff. There was a table set up on the balcony where the food was arranged so we could eat. I found the Duchess and her friends became less formal and critical when they had food in front of them and I was able to join into the conversation. I felt better when they were talking to me and not about me. I didn't really talk to Beatrice all that much because I still didn't like the goose. She also did little to converse with me, not that I minded one bit.

After they all finished eating the small meal that had been brought, Duchess Frow's friends were quick to depart so they could continue to get ready for the ball. From somewhere, two more maids had appeared so Duchess Frow could get dressed as well. While the Duchess strapped herself into her corseted dress with two of the maids, the other two helped me into mine. Once I was wearing my dress it seemed to become real. In less than two hours I would be attending a royal ball, the first ball of the princess's celebration.

* * *

I'm back! The story came to a bit of a grinding halt there for awhile. I looked at the last date I updated and it was more than two months ago (yikes).

So anyway there's that chapter. It's a bit odd and there are some characters that are introduced that will be important later on in the story. I hope you like it and I shall try to get back on track with updates.


	22. So It Begins

The two maids who helped me get ready made sure I looked lovelier than anything I could have achieved on my own. They pulled my hair away from my face with two braids and tied it all up in a smooth twist of a bun. They even let me wear a small pearl pin in my hair. Somehow the ties of my mask were also hidden in the braids of my hair. The maids were absolute geniuses when it came to hair. I told them as much and thanked them profusely. Dahlia, one of my maids, suggested that I wear one of Duchess Frow's pearl bracelets as well. I quickly declined the much too generous offer until I heard the Duchess herself yelling from her room that I couldn't look like some poor street child and to take the bracelet. Still I felt the gesture was too much. I would spend the entire night making sure that I did not lose the bracelet or the hairpin.

I was completely prepared to leave for the castle a full half hour before eight o'clock, the time the ball officially started. I called to Duchess Frow through the door to her room if I could perhaps go and meet my stepsisters now to go with them to the ball. I wanted to make sure I was actually in the carriage before they were so I wouldn't get left behind. The duchess shouted that I was to stay until she could inspect me herself. I impatiently waited as the hands of the clock slowly ticked away. At this rate, I could only hope that Giselle and Victoria were taking equally as long to get ready.

Finally, Duchess Frow came out of her room holding a large feathered mask attached to a stick that matched her frilly dress. She beckoned for me to turn around so she could see inspect my dress from all angles. "Well, this will do quite nicely. I was worried that Dahlia and Rosemary would not be able to make you look presentable enough in time, but it seems they have done a wonderful job anyway. You look pretty enough in that dress, and the mask is quite striking."

I knew that it was probably the closest thing to a compliment I would get from her so I curtsied and thanked her. She looked at the clock and shooed me from the room telling me I had to hurry so I wouldn't be late. I did as she said and hurried as much as I could to get to the carriage that I knew would be waiting in front of the inn.

I met Victoria and Giselle on the steps outside of the Gilded Leopard. They looked nonplussed when they heard me call out to them, but there were too many people around for them to actually do anything. Ours was not the only carriage that was waiting to take inn guests to the ball. I joined Victoria and Giselle as we went to ours. As beautiful as I felt in Duchess Frow's suite, standing next to Giselle and Victoria I felt less so. They were both dazzling in gowns that seemed to be made out of stars with the way they sparkled. The dresses were similar to each other but not exactly matching. Giselle's skirt was flared a bit more than Victoria's and where hers had a swooping neckline, Giselle's had long sleeves and a plunging back. Their masks were both made from thin silver wires that delicately swirled around their eyes. They did little to hide their identities, but when one looked as stunning as they did one would not want to mask anything. We climbed into our carriage and swayed a bit as it moved forward towards the castle.

The ride there was mostly silent while Giselle threw me dirty looks and Victoria gazed at herself in a small pocket mirror. Everyone few minutes Giselle would lean over to whisper something in her sister's ear. I was sure she was somehow putting me down. She was still horribly jealous of my relationship with the prince. Finally Victoria closed her mirror and had a whispered conversation with her sister.

"That is a lovely dress," Victoria said.

"It would be a pity if something were to happen to it," Giselle finished spitefully.

I did not know if they could see, but I glared at them from behind my mask. "I will make sure nothing happens to this dress. I won't let you ruin my night."

"Who said anything about us trying to ruin your night?" Victoria was smoothing her dress and not looking at me. It was almost as if she didn't consider me important enough to even talk to at all. "This is an important night for us too, why would we want to waste it trying to sabotage you?"

Giselle nodded, but it seemed like she did not fully agree. She gave her sister a suspicious look. "You are just lucky that old fat pig came to take you away to get ready for the ball. It is only the fact that her servants made you up that you even look presentable. You have no talents with anything other than rolling in the dirt."

I very nearly slapped her for her impertinent comment, but I had been made up beautifully and did not want to ruin it. Giselle was just goading me. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction, or that is what I told myself. I was trying to control my temper, but after hours being picked apart by the Duchess's friends I was not sure how much more I could take. If I could just ignore them for a few more minutes we would arrive at the palace and I would be rid of them.

I did not answer Giselle's last scathing remark so she stopped talking. With Victoria preening in her mirror and me unwilling to fight, Giselle crossed her arms and pouted the rest of the way to the palace. I looked out the window and watched the buildings pass much too slowly for my liking. I was excited for the ball and wanted to arrive at the palace immediately.

Through one street we had to slow to almost stopping because there were people celebrating in the street. It only delayed us a few minutes as the people moved out of our way fairly quickly. It seemed the city had come alive tonight. There was noise and music on every street and around every corner. People were everywhere laughing or eating one of the multiple items that were being sold from vendors. When I looked down some streets we passed, I could see bright colored lights and I wondered what they were for. There was an opera house with elegantly dressed patrons climbing the steps to go see a performance. There were children dancing around maypoles in one square while their parents watched and sometimes joined in the dance.

Once we neared the castle, I could see other carriages driving through the large stone yard on the other side of the gate. The carriages were lined up in wait to let their occupants out at the doors. The line looped around the court yard to exit again through the gate. Some people climbed out of their carriages before they were at the grand doors and walked across the courtyard instead of waiting. Everyone wore black and white with a mask. The white stone of the courtyard and the mostly black carriages added to the theme of the night. When our carriage stopped a few lengths away from the doors I decided to get out and walk the rest of the way. Giselle and Victoria said that they wanted to be helped out by the royal attendants and not walk like some servant. I rolled my eyes at their logic as I helped myself out of the carriage.

I reached the doors first as the carriage before theirs was hindered by a grossly large man who could barely exit through his carriage door. Despite my excitement for the ball, I did not want to enter alone so I waited for Giselle and Victoria. Entering with them would be better than entering alone. I was determined to get to the ball as fast as I could, but now standing on the steps I felt nervous. Eventually the attendants were able to get the man out of the carriage and he walked through the doors leaning heavily on a silver cane. Giselle and Victoria were the next to be helped out. Heads turned when they exited the carriage. Their dresses caught the light and made the pair sparkle. Even the attendants commented on how lovely they looked. They nodded to the men who helped them out of the carriage and glided to where I waited. They were basking in the attention they were getting and we had not even entered the castle yet.

We followed the line of people who were entering the castle through the large oak doors. A red carpet had been laid across the stones to usher people inside. The carpet was the only splash of color in an otherwise colorless scene. The elegant notes of a waltz drifted through the open door. I could see glimpses of men and women dressed in black and white with masks inside. Then Giselle, Victoria, and I entered and the full magnitude of the event hit me.

* * *

WE HAVE FINALLY MADE IT TO THE GREAT PHARYSS CELEBRATION! I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited. This is when things start happening and we get to meet more interesting characters and explore the personalities of characters already there.

Anyway, this will be the first of five balls followed by the royal wedding. In my opinion this is the most boring one of all five because they will only increase in excitement as the story progresses. I really love writing big ball scenes so this will be drawn out over a few chapters.


	23. In They Come

The space we entered was magnificent. Above our heads people stood together on rounded iron balconies that connected to one long balcony that encircled the room and the ballroom beyond. The red carpet led straight up the steps that went up to the balcony. People were going up and down the steps and more crowded along the balcony itself where it passed between the ballroom and the room where I had just entered. To get to the ballroom where I could see people dancing, there was an arched doorway on either side of the wide staircase. Similar doorways lined the opposite sides of the entrance area and gave view to side rooms where people lounged in black and white couches and other lavish furniture. The floor was black and white marble spirals that it reflected the people who walked upon it. The multiple arched doorways were black upon the white of the walls and some had heavy curtains that were pulled aside. I looked up to where a huge crystal chandelier hung in a ceiling made of mirrors in which I saw my wondering face looking down at me.

My stepsisters and I continued on into the ballroom where it was even more fantastic than the entry hall. Princess Joslynn had done her job well. The balcony did wrap around the entire room with tall mirrors hung above and below looking almost looked like doors led into more ballrooms where people danced. All the mirrors made the ball seem to go on forever on all sides. The orchestra played from a higher level of the balcony at the other side of the room. Underneath their platform nestled between the grand branching staircases that came down from the balcony, sat the royal thrones which were, as of now, empty. The long stretch floor between me and them was filled with dancing couples who turned in time with the music. Four more huge crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling in the ballroom. For a moment the three of us just paused inside to admire the splendor of it all. Everything in the hall was black and white, from the white walls to the black frames of the mirrors and wrought iron balcony railings. The music filled the contrasting room with such warmth it was almost tangible.

Giselle and Victoria immediately went off and were soon on the arms of two masked men and being led out to dance. I was not entirely sure what to do. I had never attended a ball as spectacular as this. Most of the people here were probably nobles and very important people of state. Since I saw no men jumping at the chance to dance with me as they had my stepsisters, I decided to ascend the red carpeted steps to the balcony so I could see the dances from above.

I had just gotten to where I could overlook the entire ballroom when the music stopped and I looked directly across at the orchestra balcony to see why, as did everyone else. The musicians had parted, leaving an empty space between the two sides. A man was walking down the aisle left by the separated orchestra. He was a servant at the castle as he wore no mask and a uniform similar to ones I had seen before. The hall was silent as he spoke from where he stood to the side of where the staircase branched.

"Now entering his royal highness, King Gerard Francis Delancy, and his wife, Queen Cordelia," the man called from above the dance floor. His majesty and his wife were the picture of regality as they descended the stairs to sit on the two largest thrones.

Next the man announced Prince Hector and Prince Christian. Hector was dressed in dark grey with a cape draped over one shoulder. His mask only covered half his face. Christian seemed to have the same mask but his was white to go with his solid white outfit of vest and shirt. The princes split so one walked down each of the branches of stairs to join their parents on the thrones. Curtis and Clover were the next to enter. I recognized Clover's dress and mask as the one she had bought while I was shopping with them and smiled. She looked very pretty.

The man continued to announce people, but it seemed he was saving the royal couple until the end. The next person he announced was Empress Pandia II of the Mektous, daughter of Empress Pandia Rex who was the leader of Mekt. Empress Pandia wore no mask yet she had the face a white tiger. She was beautiful with glossy white fur with jet black stripes. She wore a light grey flowing gown that floated around her lean form. I had never seen one of the Mektous this close before and now I was seeing their empress. I watched as she walked down the stairs with cat-like grace followed by her attendant. The next ambassador to be announced was Duchess Ojera and I looked around to see how Victoria and Giselle would react, but I could not find them in the crowd on the dance floor. Ojera was wearing a black mask with what appeared to be a large white flower pinned to one side. Her dress bore a similar flower at the shoulder and the black fabric clung to her form until it flared to trail behind her a bit. It seemed she was successful in finding a beautiful dress after all.

The ambassador from Darios came next. They called him Avion. He was a tall man with incredibly dark skin wearing what appeared to be a draping robe with thick silver jewelry at his wrists and neck. He stood tall and regal as he walked down the steps. He was accompanied by a woman who was introduced as his wife. She was also tall with dark skin with a similar robe that was more feminine. Together they made a striking couple especially since their 'masks' were actually an arrangement of white paint around their eyes.

A man named Sir Brockton from Ghant entered next. He was handsome with golden hair to his shoulders and a silver breastplate and mask. I had no doubt that Victoria or Giselle would seek him out by the end of the night. Sir Brockton was followed by a small woman named Pernyx Stillflame from Kiatyss. Her white dress had fur around the collar and cuffs. Her skin and hair was as white as her dress. She had pale eyes lined with thick dark lashes. She walked slowly with measured steps. She was accompanied by two men who shared her pale coloring. The masks she and her party wore covered the bottom half of the face opposed to the top.

Tarahan, Prince Reginald's home country, was the only one not represented yet. The announcer called out, "Princess Poppy of Tarahan, sister to Prince Reginald."

The girl who entered resembled what I remembered Prince Reginald looked like. She had the same light brown hair and kind face. Her mask was white with feathers and edged in pearls to match her gown. She could not have been much older than fourteen or fifteen annuals. She bowed her head and I imagined she was a bit nervous to walk out in front of all these people alone.

Finally the long awaited couple entered arm in arm. Neither of them wore black nor white but sapphire blue. Reginald looked dashing in his blue suit and simple white mask, but it was Joslynn who captivated all the eyes in the room. She wore the dress I had seen in the fairy shop, though on her it looked even more amazing. I had never seen anyone so beautiful as the princess. Her beauty tonight made Giselle and Victoria look dreadfully plain and there was more than one envious eye turned on her. I could hear gasps and whispers as people spoke of her radiance. Prince Reginald was indeed lucky to have such a fiancée. When they descended the steps, I noticed the first thing Reginald did was wrap an arm around his sister. It was kind of him to think how nervous she must have been and I smiled as the princess hugged her older brother and then his fiancée.

Once the royal family and representatives were introduced, the orchestra moved back into their places and began playing again. Everyone went back to their dancing and conversations. The king and his queen stayed seated on their thrones, but their children went off into the crowd. There was a cluster of people around where Joslynn, Reginald, and Poppy stood. No doubt people wanted to congratulate the couple or comment on Josylnn's dress.

I looked across the dance floor again at all the swirling couples. I decided to explore a bit instead of just standing. There were the two sitting rooms at the front. I went back down the stairs and entered the one on the right. The room was bigger than I had previously thought with all manner of furniture to sit on scattered around in loose circles. Much of it was being used from the curving sofas to the large cushions on the floor. There was also a line of bookcases along one wall. I walked over to that and ran my fingers over the spines of the books when I heard a man laugh loudly. I turned my head to look and saw an older man nearby was the cause of the noise. He wore white military uniform decorated with medals and pins. His mask looked as if it was a splash of white paint over his eyes with a few black flecks. He was talking to another man in similar uniform while another man stood silently at his side.

"I can't believe that you have never met my son, Mr. Hooks!" The man spoke louder than necessary so many heads turned to glare at him. He took no notice. "Well, this is my dear boy, Niko." He clapped the man at his side on the back.

His son twisted a bit from the force of the blow, but it was hard to see anything about him. There were a few people here that I had seen in full masquerade costume. He was one of those people. I could only assume he was in his twenties, perhaps thirties, because the other man said he was his son. He wore a wide brimmed white hat with a black feather over a white beaked mask that covered his entire face. Even his hands were covered by black gloves and his white brocade jacket covered a shirt that had a high lacey collar that hid his throat. He was all white with black edges. Even his mask had thin black fabric covering the eye holes so even his eyes were concealed. He only bowed slightly to Mr. Hooks without saying anything. I was still studying the details of his costume when he spotted me. I flushed and was glad for my mask when I turned back to the books. I had not meant for him to catch me staring.

I could still hear the conversation however. The boisterous man happened to be the head of the king's guard, General Rydell, and Mr. Hooks was one of his subordinates. Niko, the son, was set for marriage; his parents had the girl already picked out. I wondered how Niko felt about his arranged marriage. Niko's wife-to-be couldn't attend the ball for she had fallen and sprained her ankle a few days prior. I glanced back at them and saw that Niko was still watching me, or at least I thought he was. It was hard to tell because I couldn't see his face at all behind the mask. If he was looking at me, I did not want to be thought to be eavesdropping so I decided to see what the other room was like.

The other room, which I assumed to be for sitting, was mostly filled with refreshment tables attended by servants. All the servants wore plain white full face masks as they served the guests. The tables were filled with small pastries, fruits, vegetables, finger sandwiches, sweets, and three different types of punch in large crystal bowls. Eating something couldn't hurt so I picked up a dainty cookie shaped like a flower. It was delicious and I quickly picked up another from the stand. I then walked away because I did not want to spend the entire ball nibbling on food. I had just taken a bite of the second cookie when I heard someone call my name.


	24. Put That In Your Pipe

"Ebony!" she called. "Ebony, there you are. Stop eating or people will think you are a glutton." Dame Frow said as she snatched the cookie away from me. Madame Mellie Mott and Beatrice were in tow.

Beatrice was derisively scowling at me while Madame Mellie seemed to be scanning the room for someone. For a second a mourned the loss of my cookie then Madame Mellie declared what, or rather who, she was looking for. "She is nowhere to be found. Oh, Bea, I have already looked in the ballroom and the other side chamber. What if she has gone off with that Addison again like last time? They caused such a fuss four months ago at the Dockett's feast."

"I have told you, Mellie, that you must be much stricter with that wild daughter of yours. Roberta is ruining her future with her antics and you must pound it into that thick skull of hers that she cannot fraternize with people like Addison Dockett. However, I do not think they are together as Lady Dockett has taken to not allowing Addison to attend the balls until she can behave herself." Beatrice stated. It seemed she liked sticking that beak of a nose everywhere it didn't belong. It was not her job to parent Mellie's daughter.

"Have you seen the prince yet?" Duchess Frow asked me. "I hope that you behaved properly like I taught you."

"I only saw him enter. I was just going to find him." I answered and moved to leave. Duchess Frow didn't allow me to leave just yet however.

She and her friends herded me from the room and up the stairs to the balcony. We walked along one side to the far corner of the ballroom near where the orchestra played. Madame Mellie was still searching and worrying for her daughter while Beatrice explained where we were going. "The most influential men are usually found in the small parlor over this way. If we are lucky the prince will be there and we can observe how you interact with him. Your husband is probably there too, Mellie. Maybe he knows where your daughter is and if she is making a fool of herself."

Mellie nodded and I walked a bit faster at the idea of seeing Christian. If they led me to Christian then I would forgive Duchess Frow of taking my treat. Near where the balcony rounded the corner of the ballroom, there was a door between two mirrors. Duchess Frow opened it without hesitation and we entered a room that was occupied mostly by men. I quickly searched the group for Christian but did not see him. I did see Beatrice's brother, Walt. Beatrice went over to talk to him and Madame Mellie went to talk to a man who I assumed was her husband. One face I was not expecting to see in the room was Victoria's. I could not take my eyes away from where she lounged in the center of a group of five men of varying ages. She was sitting in between Sir Brockton of Ghant and Prince Hector. They were talking animatedly about smoking of all things. Prince Hector held a box of cigars which Sir Brockton partook of. Victoria was holding a pipe in her hand instead.

"I have never smoked a pipe before in my life. I always say that it is best to try things once." I did not miss the amused look that Prince Hector gave her when she spoke. Sir Brockton seemed more intent on lighting his own cigar. Victoria raised the pipe and one of the other men was kind enough to offer her some brown leaves to smoke. My eyes widened when she actually put the leaves in her pipe and smoked them. Her first in inhale was greeted by a fit of dainty coughs and she handed the pipe to one of the other men.

Prince Hector smiled. He had not taken his eyes off of her yet. "Not to your taste, Miss Victoria?"

Victoria had one hand held to her chest while she steadied her breathing. I did not catch her response because Duchess Frow had stepped in front of me and blocked my view of them. "It is impolite to stare like that, Ebony." She announced. "Your prince is not here and it is a good thing too. It speaks very poorly of a person to stare so stupidly at other people."

"Perhaps I should return to the ball now." I said and hoped that this time she would let me go.

Duchess Frow huffed. "I suppose you must, you don't quite belong in this room anyway. Run along then and enjoy the ball, but remember your manners!"

I quickly turned and left. The room was much too devoid of music as the walls were thick and did not allow the orchestra's melodies through. I could not get the image of Victoria smoking a pipe out of my head and laughed to myself as I walked along the balcony. She looked so absurd and her coughing fit did not help matters any.

While I was chuckling I nearly ran into a boy who was just standing at the railing. He looked to be only thirteen annuals old. It was quite a young age to attend a ball, but since the youngest princess was attending others of her age were allowed to as well. The boy was wearing a snarling grey wolf mask. He looked up at me and declared. "You look stupid!" Then he hurried away leaving me stunned.

My mouth had dropped open as I watched him dodge though people. I couldn't believe he had said I looked stupid so boldly. I looked down at my dress. It wasn't stupid, was it? Its style was a bit different than the majority of gowns, but it wasn't horrible. I shouldn't have let the biting remark of a little boy get to me, but it still made me self conscious. I looked around to see if anyone had heard and that man from before, Niko I think, was leaning on the balcony railing watching me. He reached up and adjusted his mask before standing and walking away. Great, now I looked like a fool. I had really hoped that no one had heard the boy being so rude and me just standing there. With flaming cheeks I hurried past where the captain's son was leisurely strolling along the balcony. I went down the steps and back to the ball room floor.

I took a deep breath. It didn't matter that someone I didn't know had seen some horrid child call me stupid. I shook my head to clear it of the boy's rude remark and looked at the dancing couples. I noticed Giselle was standing to the side of the dance with a group of girls. I walked over to see what they were talking about. Giselle and I were no great friends, but perhaps some of the other girls would be nicer. At any rate it would be better than just standing alone.

All the girls were listening as Giselle talked. I supposed I should have expected that she was spreading rumors about Duchess Ojera. Giselle had harbored a deep resentment for the ambassador since that day at the shop. "Did you hear that toad was seen heading to her chambers alone with one of Empress Pandia's servants? I do say, that is very near bestiality. I wonder if that's the norm where she comes from and she has a codfish for a suitor at home. With a face like that I can't imagine she would have any men wanting her hand."

Most of the girls looked scandalized at Giselle's obviously false story. I rolled my eyes at the girls who believed such a tale. "Is it true that you are friends with the princess?"A brunette in a grey mask asked eagerly. The other girls leaned in as well.

Giselle basked in the attention and casually answered as if being close to royalty was nothing special. "It is true, Joslynn and I are quite good companions. My sister and I helped her near every day this past month in preparations."

The girls gasped again. Giselle had them eating out of the palm of her hand. By the looks of it she was the leader of her newfound clique. Giselle and Victoria had a way of getting other girls to follow them and doing as they wished. Being close with members of the royal family only made them more popular and everyone else eager to please them. It had been the same in Lyscos. Often girls from the town would come round for tea and my stepsisters would gossip with them for hours. In Lyscos, an invitation to one of their tea parties was coveted and considered an honor. My mother had insisted on me attending one once. I found everyone there to be as shallow as Giselle and Victoria. After one hour of hearing about the most scandalous gossip about people in the town, I decided I was done and left. My departure made mother quite cross and I had to explain to her that I had no desire to sit and listen to lies told about other people. My views had not changed much since then and I still did not want to hear Giselle blatantly lie about Ojera

Giselle had not acknowledged my presence and I was considering wandering the rooms again when I saw a familiar figure striding toward us. The black and white mask did nothing to hide the arrogant way Dewey walked. His costume was flamboyant and had black next to white in stark contrast. He had recognized Giselle and was coming over to greet her. Since he was approaching her from behind, she was not aware of her presence until he cleared his throat. Giselle seemed to be expecting another handsome man wanting to dance with her. The other girls had struck up conversations with each other and seemed to not notice Squire Dewitt. I could not wander away now.


	25. Dancing

"Good evening, Miss Giselle. You look absolutely stunning. The gown you have chosen sparkles like your personality and you wear it very well. I have been looking for you and your sister fastidiously this entire night. You two are an elusive pair to find, but by and by I came to notice your eye-catching gown. When the sparkle caught my eye I thought to myself, why that must be Giselle for no other woman would be as lovely. I do wish we had met with each other earlier for I would have much enjoyed passing the time at your side. Perhaps you could do me the honor of a dance. I was hoping that I would be able to find you for a dance or two before the ball is over and now I have found you. Please, say you will do me the honor of a dance; I would be a most happy man if you did. I imagine you to be a most spectacular dancer full of elegance and grace and it would be my honor to dance with you. I may not be as skilled a dancer as you but I will try not to step on your toes too much." Dewey finished in what I assumed was his form of a joke. Giselle just looked pained as she tried to keep the smile on her face.

Giselle picked at her dress and looked away from Dewey. When she returned her eyes to him she had an excuse prepared. "I wish I could dance with you, Dewitt, but I have just seen one of my dear friends and must go and speak with her before she leaves."

I knew very well that Giselle had no dear friends in Pharyss, but Dewey didn't. It did not deter him however and he wasn't going to let her get away that easily. "Perhaps I can go with you and meet your friend."

Giselle clenched her fist in annoyance. She probably wanted to punch him but had the good sense not to. "Maybe you can dance with Ebony while I am with my friend. I'm sure she would love to dance with you."

Rats. I thought that Giselle had not noticed that I was nearby. I did not miss the slump of Dewey's shoulders when Giselle yanked me forward. "No, no, I'm sure I couldn't take away your dance." I tried to pull away.

Giselle muttered some promise to me about what she would do if I took Dewey off her hands.

Dewey seemed to have remembered his manners and took my hand. "I suppose that if you must go see your dear companion that dancing with your sister will be a pleasant enough way to pass the time; although I will be waiting and watching for your return, Giselle. Now, Miss Ebony, I believe I know this dance and will gladly dance it with you."

I forced a smile as he led me into the dance. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. Hopefully he was just joking about stepping on feet. Maybe I could even get him to tell me if he knew where Christian was.

Dewey was a very stiff dancer and rigidly moved from step to step. His concentration on the dance did nothing to slow his mouth like I hoped it would. He still prattled on endlessly about how his night had been progressing so far. I did not even try to keep a fake smile on my face anymore. "I do hope you are enjoying yourself at my cousin's ball, Miss Ebony. I surely have found it to be quite exciting. Joslynn has done a wonderful job of making the ballroom look nice. I find the lack of colors quite interesting. I spoke to her the other day about it and told her that I thought color was an important part of a ball and her lack of such would appear lower class. She assured me that she knew what she was doing and besides it was too late to change anything anyway. I understand that it was short notice for any large changes to be made; I just wish she had consulted me sooner so I could give her my opinions. I suggested that for her wedding she use dark green and violet with a really bright yellow to draw the eye. This ball seemed to have come together well despite the lack of a good color scheme. Already I have danced with a number of delightful young women. I danced with one who came all the way from a town on the northern border. I even danced with a woman who spoke endlessly and I could barely get a word in edgewise. I cannot imagine someone talking so much and so tiresomely."

I had to hold a snort of laughter at his critique of someone who spoke as much as he did. His suggestions for the princess's wedding nearly made me misstep in the dance. Dewey was such a strange sort of person the like of which I had never seen. He continued to prattle on and on until the song ended and I insisted that I was tired from dancing and needed a rest. He thought it the perfect opportunity for him to dance with Giselle and went off to find her. She had probably disappeared while I was dancing with Dewey and was now hiding. I did not care where she was, Dewey left me to search for her and that was all that mattered.

Once Dewey had walked away another man approached me and asked for a dance. He was portly and beneath his mask I could tell he had a jolly smile. "Would you allow me the honor of a dance, miss?" He asked politely. I had no objections so I accepted and returned with him to the dance floor. I danced with him. He introduced himself as Squire Demy. Once my dance with him was over, another man asked to dance with me. It seemed that people had seen me dancing with Dewey and decided to keep me dancing. I did not mind; it was a ball and sore feet at the end were part of the fun. I danced with a lord from the western provinces who admired the dance steps I had learned from Gillian. Then there was an elderly knight who wanted to dance with me. His name was Sir Riley and he told the most wonderful stories about his days serving the king. I danced two dances with him because I enjoyed talking to him. I told him about how my brother Andrew was serving as a knight. He wished my brother the best of luck in his patrols at the end of the second dance. He had seen his daughter and wanted to dance with her so we parted ways and I told him that I would look for him at future balls.

Before anyone else could ask me to dance I retired to the room with the refreshments. Hopefully Duchess Frow was not in there to snatch my food away from me. The tables were less full than the first time I was in this room with all the people eating off of them. The cookies I had sampled earlier were all but gone. I selected a colorful candy from a bowl and was surprised when it changed flavors in my mouth. The dancing had made also me thirsty so a servant poured me a cup of the aromatic punch from one of the large crystal bowls. As I sipped, I looked around the room. I saw a few people I recognized from seeing them elsewhere throughout the ball. One was the boisterous man General Rydell and his companion Mr. Hooks. Thankfully, his son was nowhere to be seen. Already I had embarrassed myself twice in front of him tonight and did not want to try for a third time. I finished my punch and returned the cup to the servant before exiting the room.

I had to quickly dodge behind a group of people talking and slip into the ballroom for Duchess Frow and her gaggle of friends were coming down the red carpeted steps and I had already seen enough of them and wanted to enjoy the rest of the ball without their company. Perhaps I could find Christian and spend it with him. I began my search for the prince again and scanned the masses of people for the white half mask I had seen when he had entered. There were many men in white and it was frustrating for every time I thought I had found the prince, the man turned and showed that it was someone else. He was wearing a half mask but his hair was black or he wore a white vest but had a black mask. I was starting to think that I would go the entire ball and not see Prince Christian. I dreaded that perhaps something had made him retire early and I had missed him.


	26. Ka-Boom!

Where was Christian? I had not seen him at all since his entrance with his family. He must have been somewhere in the middle of the massive dance floor. It was nearly impossible to see through all the twirling couples and it was the only place I had not yet properly looked, and wasn't going to. I did not want to interrupt the dance by just walking though its center. He had to stop dancing at some point after all. It occurred to me that we were just missing each other as I went from room to room. Perhaps he was entering as I was leaving or vice versa. I thought he would be easier to find considering he was a prince and there was sure to be people fawning over him. Maybe if I got a better view of the dance floor from the balcony I could spot him. I climbed the carpeted steps and went to the right. I watched my reflection in the mirrors as I passed. The longer I spent thinking about it, the less confidant I felt that Christian would like my dress. I turned away from the mirrors and went to lean on the balcony.

The view was not as choice as I thought it would be. It was an odd angle to view the dancers from. I did manage to spot young Clover as she danced with another young man in black and grey. They swirled around and passed where Curtis was dancing with a young woman in a sparkling white gown. Both Curtis and Clover seemed to be extremely bored with the dance and their partners. When they passed each other I saw the mournful glance they shared before dancing apart again. My eyes swept over the rest of the dancers, none of whom seemed to be the prince I was looking for.

"Ebony?" he asked from behind me. I turned to find the man I had been looking for and could not help the wide smile that filled my face.

I curtsied. "Your highness, I was looking everywhere for you."

Christian was smiling too. Up close I could see that his costume was not entirely white, but had gold thread run through it. "As I was, I am glad I finally found you. How are you enjoying the ball?"

"It is fantastic and the food is delicious. I have even danced with some wonderful people. I actually spent quite awhile dancing." I said and had to stop myself from rambling on and on in front of Christian. I had spent the entire night watching for him and now that he was standing before me I felt nervous. Did he like my dress? Did he think I look ridiculous? I was too made up. I probably looked so silly he was reconsidering being seen with me.

"I hope you are not too tired of all the dancing to not want to join one more dance," Christian offered his arm and I gladly took it. He must not think I look too absurd.

On our descent back to the dance floor, Christian told me about his dance with Giselle. Apparently she had found him soon after his entrance and had the privilege of being his partner for the first few dances. I wondered at how she found him so quickly and was envious that she had.

Christian was a marvelous dancer and I reveled in every step we took. It was every girl's dream to be dancing at the ball with a prince and I was living it. He told me about the ambassadors that he had met this evening. His father had insisted that he and his siblings get to know each of the representatives that had come from other kingdoms so he had spent time with each of them. He talked of how Avion and his wife Ismene, the people from Darios, were two of the most impressive people he had ever met because their mere presence commanded an entire room. I knew he was not far off on his description of them because when they had entered it was as if the entire room was completely focused on the couple. Christian did not speak much to Pernyx Stillflame for she did not speak much at all. She just stood silently and watched the ball with her light eyes he informed me. Prince Hector got along with Sir Brockton better than Christian and the two of them soon went off on their own. That was when Victoria found them. Christian had danced with Duchess Ojera and was quite taken with her from what he said. I tried not to feel too jealous at the way Christian spoke of the lovely Adellian, but I could not silence the nagging thought that she was much more beautiful and impressive than I was.

I pushed those feelings away when he described Empress Pandia. I wanted to know what the leader of the Mektous was like. The Mektous was such a foreign people who were rarely seen in Lantine. The fact that they were part animal made them fascinating to me. "The Empress is the figure of elegance and charm. At first I found her appearance odd, but the more I talked to her the more it became her. There is a sort of cat-like beauty to her and I am quite used to it now. She told me of her home in Mekt. They have so much magic there that it is completely commonplace. Pandia told me that the fabric that made her gown was woven by a type of spider that came from Finarca. Can you imagine it?"

I shook my head. "Her gown was beautiful, so the spiders must know what they are doing."

Christian laughed but it was cut short by many screams and shouts coming from outside the ball room. The dance stopped and people immediately went to see what was causing the commotion, Christian and I among them. I held his hand as we squeezed our way through the crush of people at the front end of the ballroom. The orchestra had not stopped playing and continued without missing a note. We made our way to the front of the crowd that was pressed in around the room that held the food and drinks. It was not the same as when I had been in it several minutes ago. There were still people in it who were standing shocked at what had just occurred. More had run out of the room and had disappeared into the crowd. Standing, or rather leaning on each other, in the center of the mess was Curtis and Clover. The pair was nearly falling over laughing and the entire room and people in it were covered in food and punch. It seemed somehow the two had managed to explode the tables sending food and drink flying. The screams had come from women whose dresses were now destroyed. I stepped into the room and my foot squished on a little cake.

"What happened?" Christian asked as he examined the damage.

Curtis and Clover looked up. "Oh good, you found Ebony. It took you long enough." Curtis said once he had somewhat managed to control his laughing fit.

"I don't think he would have ever found you if I hadn't told him exactly what your dress looked like. Even then I wasn't sure. Ian can be a bit thick." Clover giggled.

I crossed my arms. It seemed they did not understand the damage they had done. It was no laughing matter. "Did you two do this?" Another spurt of laughter from the young royals answered my question. "What were you thinking? Aside from ruining your sister's first ball, you have ruined the room and many expensive dresses and suits with your little stunt." I walked further into the room to speak with them with Christian behind me. I figured it would be better for someone they knew to speak to them and not one of the furious food-covered bystanders.

My chastisement seemed to sober them and they looked remorseful. Clover was looking at her feet and Curtis would not look me in the eye. "Did you even think about what you were doing?"

Clover pushed her mask up off her face. "I didn't know it would do that. When the joke shop sold it to me the man said that it would just splash the punch a little. Besides the ball was boring anyway and this way people will remember it."

Christian crossed his arms and glared at his younger brother and sister. "Just wait until father sees this. Maybe you two are still too immature to attend a ball."

Curtis and Clover started to protest. The people who were still in the room had begun to try and wipe the sticky mess from themselves. Clover was right, they would definitely remember this. Many of them looked angry at the state their party cloths were in. I could not believe that Curtis and Clover would do something so destructive at a royal ball. There was a rush of servants who came in through a door that was hidden in the bookshelves. They began cleaning as best they could and escorting the guests out of the room presumably to get them cleaned up. I was amazed at their response time; it was quite impressive.

The crowd of people standing at the doors suddenly silenced and I knew the king had arrived. Christian and I stepped aside for him to get at his two youngest. I bowed my head respectfully as he passed. Now Curtis and Clover looked truly afraid. When their father spoke he did not raise his voice, but it was not less menacing. "You two go to your rooms. I will deal with you later after I clean up the mess you made. You should both get used to your chambers because I do not see either of you leaving them in the immediate future."

With eyes downcast, the pair hurried from the room through the servant's quarters. The king turned back to the curious faces behind him. "I am terribly sorry for this unfortunate mess my two youngest have caused. You can be sure that they will be appropriately punished and anyone caught in the mess will…"

I turned to Christian. "Maybe I should go." I whispered. It felt like I was intruding where I really didn't belong by standing in the room with him and the king.

Christian glanced at me and nodded. The ball would have to end early because of what happened. It was better if I went now and made sure that I was waiting when Giselle and Victoria decided to leave so they would not leave me behind.

Outside I took off my mask and waited for the carriage. I was not waiting long before my stepsisters came out through the doors whispering to their new clique. Our carriage pulled up in front of us and I climbed in while the others stayed outside together discussing what had happened. There were only a few other people who were leaving. Everyone else wanted to see how the king handled the mess. Giselle and Victoria said their goodbyes to their new friends and climbed into the carriage and we were away. The first ball had ended in a very surprising way and my time with Christian had been abruptly cut short. I hoped that the next ball would give us more time together.

* * *

Well, that was the ball scene with an unexpected ending. Those troublesome kids!

I have come to the conclusion that the amount I read is proportional to the amount I write. More reading = More writing. Unfortunately I am not so much into books and really into reading fanfiction where I can find it. So that's helped with the faster posting.

I'm also going to start responding to reviews in good time again because I have really failed at that recently.


	27. Dragon!

The following day started late for me and my stepsisters. After last night's ball, all three of us slept the morning away. They woke before me and their puttering about getting ready for their day is what woke me from my sleep. Victoria and Giselle kept tromping between their rooms in various states of undress. It seemed the laundress had gotten their clothes all mixed up and they were sorting it all out. Of course they were both complaining endlessly about the foolish woman and how she needed to learn how to do her job properly. In between their complaints, they talked of the ball. Victoria had spent nearly the entire night with Prince Hector, Sir Brockton, and their friends. She spoke incessantly about the prince and what they talked about when they danced. Giselle had spent the night flirting with attractive courtiers and Prince Christian. It seemed she had gotten to see the prince more than I had. Between spending time with the princes, my stepsisters had found time to find other girls to form a clique with. They had made fast friends with a group of about five others and were now all bosom companions, according to Giselle. They were such good friends that they would be spending the day with the girls and thus the reason they were sorting their clothes so meticulously. Giselle and Victoria had to look perfect for their friends. It was good that they had found people to get along with, and it was even better that they planned to spend the day with them where I didn't have to hear about how much I was 'hurting' Giselle. They left and then I was free to get dressed without interruption.

I left our room and went downstairs to the entrance hall. The woman who sat at the front desk saw me and motioned for me to approach the desk. Two letters had been delivered this morning and she was not able to catch Giselle and Victoria on their way out. One of the letters was addressed to only me while the other was addressed to Giselle and Victoria as well. Immediately I recognized the handwriting on mine and the stationary the other was printed on. I would recognize my brother's slanted script anywhere and the other was in a gold colored envelope and could only be from someone in the royal family. I guessed that the one in the gold envelop was an invitation of some sort. There was no need to send a letter if it were anything else, but an invitation to what? I was torn on which one to open first. I would go back up to the Crocodile Room and sit outside on the balcony. I was excited to know what my brother had been up to so I would read his first. I sat on the end of the thick railing and leaned back against the building before opening the letter. Andrew must have gotten my letter very quickly to have responded so quickly, or he had sent this before I had sent mine. I discovered it was the latter when I saw he had dated his letter for more than a week ago.

Dear little sister,

I have been moving about the kingdom and so have you. I hope my letter finds you, for Pharyss is a very large city. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did on my last trip through there. Last time I was in Pharyss was near four months ago and they were just sending out the announcements. As a matter of fact, my patrol got to deliver the news to towns on our way to the northern forests. There have been reports of a group of ogres terrorizing some farms out there and we have been assigned to see to it. This will be my first task in command and I hope I don't do something foolish like get run through with an ogre spear.

That is right, sister, I have moved up in the ranks and am now in command of my small group. Captain Gradley decided that I was officer material after our bout with a dragon. It was a dreadful business. Next time you see me I will be sporting a new scar across my face. I think it makes me look quite roguish and when I tell the women where I got it, they near fall at my feet. Girls love a good tale of bravery, you know. I suppose you would also like to hear how your brave brother selflessly threw himself into battle with a dragon and saved his company from the beast. I do not own up to it to the men, but the entire fight I was terrified. I hope you never meet a dragon, they are very dangerous. This particular dragon had been terrorizing the countryside when we arrived.

Anyway, my patrol was tracking the beast's destruction along the western border and we came across caves near the base of the mountains. Dragons are known to frequent caves, as you know, so we decided to search them. We had hoped to catch the dragon while it was asleep so we could kill it easier. We found the dragon's lair, but it was empty except for the bones of livestock and the smell of fire. That was when the dragon was upon us. It was a pine drake. They have a heavy covering of needle-like scales and are smaller than most dragons, which was lucky for us. It came in behind us so we were trapped in its cave. We quickly grouped into defense formation and raised our shields as it spit its thick flames at us and roared. It only stood a bit taller than a horse and still it filled the entrance to the cave by rearing up on its hind legs. Our backs were against the cave wall as the beast snapped at us. Gradley and I distracted the beast so the others could escape. They all made it out but in our efforts to divert the dragon, it had cornered us even further into the back of the cave.

Gradley was shouting for me to save myself when a spurt of dragon fire got his arm and he dropped his sword. The dragon lunged at him and I swiped my sword at its neck as it tried to kill the captain. My sword barely made it through the sharp scales. It was enough of a distraction to make me the beast's new target. The dragon hissed and turned on me. I backed up against the wall and raised my shield as the dragon blew flames at me. The heat almost made me drop my shield. Somehow I managed to hold my sword and shield and when the flames stopped I struck out at the dragon. I slashed one of the beast's eyes and it screeched and reared back. The men had circled around the back of the beast and were trying to surround the dragon, but its sweeping tail was keeping them at a distance while it focused on me. I lowered my shield to attack again, but the dragon was faster. Its claws swiped out at my face and tore down the right side. I am lucky I did not lose an eye, or my life.

I cried out when I felt my skin tear and struck out blindly at the dragon. It was reckless, but miraculously I was able to drive my sword into the softer skin under the dragon's neck. As the dragon gurgled and fell down before me I didn't even retrieve my sword from the body. Instead I clutched my face and went to check on the captain. The men reached the captain at the same time I did and started tending to our wounds. Fallon, our healer, is amazed that the dragon did not cut me deeper than he did; he could have taken my head off. I assume he did not because I had disoriented it with my blow to its eye. Either way I thank the spirits for my luck.

It took absolutely ages for my wounds to heal. For weeks I had to have half my face wrapped in bandages and was forced to stay at the castle in Eroban for that time. The captain also stayed there along with the entire patrol group. He said we deserved some rest. His burns were so severe that he can no longer wield a sword properly, that is why he decided to appoint me to command. 'Andrew,' he says. 'I have been watching you. You are a good soldier. You follow orders and are brave in the face of danger. You stayed to protect me and risked your life for the men to escape. I want you to become leader in my stead. With this lame arm, I will need someone I can trust to lead the men in my place.' I asked him what he meant and he told me that he was going to stay in Eroban after we had left. He gave me written instructions for where I would need to lead the men on patrol.

That brings me to a bit of exciting news. Since I cannot properly be in command without informing Commander Mordris and properly being made a captain, I will have to journey to Pharyss. After my men and I clear up the ogre situation in the north, we will be riding quickly for the king's city. We should arrive before the celebration's end, and I will search the city until I find you so we can see some of it together. I may even introduce you to my men, but I want to be careful or they will all fall madly in love with you. It has been far too long since we have been able to spend a day together like we used to. When I arrive in Pharyss I will make sure my men and I can at least stay until the royal wedding. Others in my patrol have family in the king's city as well and will enjoy the days with their families. Watch for my arrival, little sister.

I love you more than the tallest tree.

Andrew Valix

I smiled at our old saying. He always closed his letters with it, 'I love you more than the tallest tree.' When I was little I would always say that I loved tall trees because I could climb all the way to the top and look out over the world. One day when we had climbed one of the tall trees, Andrew asked me if I loved the tallest tree more than I loved him. I love you more than the tallest tree was my response and since then it has been our saying. I was exceeding glad that Andrew had not been hurt more seriously. I live in fear that one day I will receive a letter from someone other than my brother with the news of his death. The kingdom is at peace now, but that does not mean that what my brother does is not without its dangers. His fight with the dragon proved that.

I looked out over the buildings beyond the back gardens of the Gilded Leopard. Maybe Andrew was in Pharyss right now and was coming to see me. I hoped my previous letter has reached him and he knows to come to the Gilded Leopard. I do not want him to waste a moment more than needed finding me in this large city.

* * *

So there you have it, Ebony's brother _is_ coming to Pharyss and will meet up with his sister when he arrives. I know some of you wanted him to be a full character in the story and he will be. He has a big part to play before this story is done.

I would like to thank all my readers who stuck with me over the weeks in which I did not write at all. You all are lovely and I couldn't ask for better readers. And a big HELLO! to all the new readers I have picked up now that I am back.


	28. The Clique

I still had one more message to read. I was too anxious to wait for Giselle and Victoria to come back, that could be hours. I put aside my brother's letter and picked up the one in the pretty gold envelope. I broke the golden seal and pulled out the paper within. I was correct in my guess, it was an invitation. It was sent from Joslynn's ladies maid. The princess had requested that my stepsisters and I join her on an outing the following day. The princess had planned a picnic at a place called the Etvor Valley. She had invited a number of her friends and visiting dignitaries to join her and it seemed I was somehow on the guest list. Christian would be attending, I was sure; it was his sister after all. It seemed all the representatives from the other kingdoms would also be attending. I hoped Giselle and Victoria could contain themselves around Duchess Ojera for the afternoon.

The pair returned just as the sun was sinking low in the sky. They had brought an entourage along with them to the room and the silence that I had been enjoying was broken by chattering and giggles. It looked like they had met up with the girls they had met at the ball. Giselle glared at me when she closed the door after being the last one to enter the room. It seemed my mere presence aggravated her now. Victoria and the other girls did not even acknowledge my presence they were so wrapped up in their conversation. It wasn't until after a few minutes of me trying to ignore them that Victoria addressed me. She had found the gold envelope sitting on the table where I left it. "What is this, Ebony?"

"An invitation to a picnic tomorrow with Joslynn," I answered without looking up.

The other girls gasped and Giselle quickly moved to her sister's side to read over her shoulder. Not wanting to miss a chance to show off their superior connections, Victoria read the letter out loud. "From the desk of her highness, Princess Joslynn Sylvia Delancy," she began. "Her highness is cordially inviting Victoria Kingston, Giselle Kingston, and Ebony Valix to attend a picnic prepared for two days following the first royal ball. The picnic is to be served in Etvor Valley and the princess requests that all her guests arrive at the palace an hour prior to midday. Princess Joslynn hopes that this occasion will allow her family, friends, and emissaries from the kingdoms to get better acquainted with her husband-to-be Prince Reginald Asher of Tarahan."

Victoria finished and all the girls who had been listening with rapt attention burst into a flurry of gasps and exclamations. A waifish girl seemed to nearly faint and had to be caught before she fell. "Are you going to go?" one of the others asked.

"Of course we are going to go. We were invited by the princess herself." Giselle said proudly.

"You are so lucky. I wish I was friends with someone in the royal family." A girl with long brown hair sighed and clutched her hands in front of her.

A small blonde girl who reminded me of a doll piped up. "Prince Christian is so handsome. I met him at a feast once and I nearly died. Have you seen his smile? It's like perfect. His hair is totally soft looking. The whole night I was thinking about how wonderful his hair looked, you know?"

The other girls ignored the small blonde and she stopped talking. It seemed that her enthusiastic description of the prince was not the first time she had gushed about something. Everyone else seemed a bit tired of her. There were seven of them altogether who were discussing the following day with Giselle and Victoria. The waif who nearly fainted was named Sara. The girl who had caught her when she nearly fell was named Allison. She was pretty with shining raven black hair. Victoria seemed to favor her over the others. The chatty blonde's name was Paislee and her sister's name was Posey. Paislee and Posey were twins except they were very different. Posey barely spoke a word the entire time while her sister rarely stopped. The girl with the long brown hair was named Navene and seemed a bit slow in the head. She spoke of little else other than how wonderful it would be to know the royal family. A sour looking girl with mousey brown hair stood next to Giselle and contributed little to the conversation. Her name was Tabatha. The last girl in their party seemed to only be along for them to push around. She was plump with round, rosy cheeks and dull red hair that was twisted in careful ringlets. When the girls were not calling her mean names, they called her Lotti. I wondered why she stayed with the clique if all they did was be mean to her.

"What were you telling me earlier, Vicky?" Allison asked eagerly. I glanced up at the nickname just in time to see Giselle scrunch up her nose at the dark haired girl. No one else seemed to notice though.

Victoria was eager to tell the tale and fiddled with the ribbons on her dress until she had everyone's full attention. I was sitting in the corner of my sofa bed with my book open on my lap, but their conversation was too distracting not to listen to.

"Well," Victoria began. "Last night at the ball I wore the beautiful dress with the sparkles, you know. Then the prince, Prince Hector himself, approached me to compliment me. You can imagine my shock because I had hardly spoken to him since that day with the carriage. Of course, I spent nearly every day at the palace before the balls, but Hector was rarely around. He is preparing to be king so I did not see him often, and never enough to hold a conversation. That is until last night. It was about half an hour past when all those ambassadors and the royal family where announced and I was chatting with a man named Sir Elliot. Elliot was a complete dear; he was rather handsome and I am sure any other man would have felt inferior to him, but not Hector. The prince marched right up and addressed us both most cordially. I composed myself quickly, but Elliot was less held together in the presence of royalty. It did not take Elliot to catch Hector's subtle hints that he wanted to talk to just me. When Elliot left that was when Hector complimented my gown. 'You look divine tonight, Miss Victoria,' he said. Divine! The prince called me divine!"

"You are so lucky, Victoria," Navene sighed. She sighed quite a bit, I noticed. "He's going to fall in love with you, I'm sure about it. It's all so romantic."

"I danced with Prince Christian." Giselle beamed, but she wilted when no one seemed to care that she danced with one prince when her sister had spent the entire ball with his brother.

Paislee was nearly falling over with how far she was leaning forward. Her sister was standing quietly beside her. From her place on the edge of the group, Lotti quietly spoke up. "Didn't you also meet Sir Brockton?"

Tabitha turned her sour gaze to Lotti but didn't say anything. The other girls only acknowledged she had said anything by repeating the question to Victoria who was only too happy to tell them all about it. Giselle was pouting and whispering with Tabitha and seemed to be ignoring the other's conversation.

"Was Sir Brockton one of the ambassadors?"

"He was the handsome one from Ghant."

"Oh, he was rather wonderful looking, some girls have all the luck. Do you think you could introduce him to me, Victoria?"

When they had exhausted going over every minute detail of Victoria's time with Sir Brockton and Prince Hector, one by one they slowly left until only Allison and Tabitha were left. Victoria had taken Allison into her room to look at clothes and jewelry while Giselle still whispered with Tabitha. They did not retire to Giselle's room. Instead they stayed in the room with me and cast sidelong glances at me while they talked. If Giselle didn't want me to hear her conversation she would have to be the one to leave. I was not going anywhere.

Within the hour, Tabitha declared she needed to return home and left. Victoria and Allison where still in Victoria's room with the door closed. When Tabitha left, I expected Giselle to join them, but she told me she was tired and going to bed before going to her room. It was a few hours later and very late at night before Allison left. She and Victoria parted with a hug after placing dainty kisses on each other's cheeks. If I heard correctly, Victoria and Giselle would be going out with the girls again in a couple of days. I predicted that they would be spending a lot of time with their new friends. Victoria was already good friends with Allison and Giselle had Tabitha.

The next morning, the three of us woke and dressed. Giselle couldn't decide on the proper wardrobe to wear to a valley. "We are in the middle of Pharyss, how can there be a valley here?" She asked with a dramatic flourish of her arms.

"I don't know, Elle. Perhaps we are leaving the city. You should wear that new dress you got in Glausshire – the green one with the cream corset." Victoria suggested.

Giselle took her sister's advice and dressed quickly. We were already off schedule and would have to rush to get to the palace on time. Victoria decided to wear a dress similar to Giselle's but with more lace. The dress I wore was more practical. My stepsisters seemed to forget that corsets and heeled shoes were not prudent to wear on an outing to a beach. I pointed out that we were going to a beach when Giselle exited her room in her new dress. She ignored me and went to adjust her hair one last time in the mirror by the door. "Come along, Tori. We're going to be late."

* * *

Yay, new characters! Writing this chapter was like pulling teeth and I'm glad it's over now and I can move on to the good stuff. Unfortunately, my writing may be on hold for a few days as daily life is forcefully dragging me back to reality.


	29. Etvor

When we arrived at the castle there was no way to tell if we were on time or late. I suspected that with the extra primping that went on this morning it was the latter. Nevertheless, Giselle and Victoria stepped out of the carriage with the help of the waiting servants as if they were something everyone was waiting for. I followed and we were escorted through the large wooden doors. The castle was as I remembered it when Christian had invited me to go and see the hall of pictures. There were less servants dashing about but the same armored guards patrolled the grounds and hallways. The three of us followed the servant silently as he led us through the palace. This time we did not stop in the storage room for cloaks and swords.

It was not long until we arrived at the hall of pictures. Giselle and Victoria were indignant at the fact that they were made to climb a rickety old ladder through a trapdoor and complained that they were ladies and it was improper to climb about in such a way. The servant simply replied that they were free to leave if they wished and not attend the princess's party at the Etvor Cliffs. This statement quickly silenced their complaints and I had to stifle a laugh at the servant's blunt tone.

Once the three of us had ascended the ladder, the servant followed and directed us to one of the golden framed pictures. It depicted a black sand beach running between tall white cliffs and the blue ocean. It was strange to see black sand in the picture. I was not aware that sand came in such a dark color; it made me even more excited to visit the place. Victoria was examining the picture from a few feet away. She was probably wondering why the servant had brought us here. Giselle had barely glanced at the picture before turning to look at the others in the room.

Giselle finished her walk around tower room and stopped beside her sister in front of the Etvor Cliffs frame. "These pictures are quite nice, but we did not come to see old art in some dusty old tower. The invitation said that we were to join Princess Joslynn at some cliffs. That is just a picture. If this is some cruel joke that you are playing on us then let me assure you that your masters will be informed as soon as possible and you will most likely lose your position." Giselle lectured the servant.

Trying to divert her attention from the poor servant I attempted to explain the pictures to Giselle. "These are more than just pictures. You can travel from this tower to the cliffs by just-"

I succeeded in saving the servant from Giselle's scolding because she directed her harsh tone at me instead. "Yes, Ebony, tell us how we can get somewhere miles away from this tower. Since you are so clever all of a sudden, enlighten all of us with your amazing knowledge. Do you want us to jump out of these windows and we will be carried to the cliffs by the wind? Don't be stupid."

"We will never get to the Etvor Cliffs at this rate!" Victoria moaned. "I was so hoping to see Prince Hector today, too. I just have to go and see him. I bet that snake Ojera is probably cuddling up all cozy with him right now since I am not there. Oh, Elle, what are we to do?"

After Giselle's scathing remark and Victoria's moaning I was ready for an argument with the two of them. They were both being silly. If they would just listen we would already be at the cliffs. I would have just walked into the painting instead of trying to explain if both of them were not standing in front of it blocking my path. Giselle had laid a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder and looked about ready to snap at me some more when the servant cleared his throat.

"Ahem, you can arrive promptly at the cliffs and see your friends simply by stepping though the picture. It is a portal of sorts and will take you straightaway to where the princess is having the picnic. Good day," He bowed and went back down the ladder quickly. I did not blame him for wanting to leave the three of us to our argument. I was glad that once we passed though the portal that I would be free of my stepsisters as well.

After hearing how the hall of pictures worked, Victoria was the first to step into the picture. She slowly approached the painting before gently reaching her hand through it. Upon finding that her fingers passed easily into the painting she quickly stepped through. The picture rippled where she had passed through and then calmed to look like a regular picture again. I stepped forward to follow her but was abruptly stopped by Giselle's raised hand. A frown was wrinkling her pretty face as she glared at me.

"I know you think you are just Miss Important today because you were invited to this picnic as well, but let me tell you that you are not special at all. You were only invited out of politeness. If Joslynn weren't such a kind friend then you wouldn't even be here. In fact I very nearly had you stay at the inn instead of bothering the royal family with your presence. You should thank me for my kindness in allowing you to come today, but I want you to remember why you are really here. You are not friends with Princess Joslynn or her fiancée or any of the royal family for that matter. Prince Christian may have shown the tiniest bit of interest in you in the past, but it was me he danced with at the ball and we talked. He told me all about how dull you are and how he sees you as little more than an acquaintance. So don't get any silly ideas about him actually liking you because I can assure you that he doesn't. So stay out of his way and just remember how lucky you are to be here at all."

Giselle turned sharply on her heel towards the picture and followed her sister to the Etvor Cliffs. I could feel the hot pricking of tears that threatened to escape at what Giselle had said. She couldn't possibly be right I told myself. Christian and I had fun when we raced through the liquid alabaster. At the ball he had said that he had been looking for me just as I was looking for him. Maybe I had not spent as much time with him that night as I would have liked, but that did not mean he did not like me. I straightened my back and told myself that Giselle was just being cruel and that there was no truth to her words. Nevertheless, her words stayed in my head and repeated as I stepped through the picture. Maybe if I could just see the prince and talk to him I could prove Giselle wrong.

Doing my best to quiet the new doubt that was running around in my head, I walked through the misty tunnel towards the black sandy beach. Before I had completely exited the tunnel onto the beach, I could hear the laughter and talking from the people there. The other end of the portal came out in a spacious cage. Outside on the beach people were scattered about playing games and talking. A ways down the beach I thought I could see tables and benches. People were seated and eating the food that was piled high on the tables. Between where I stood and the food, there was a game going on. Two teams of men were dashing about after three colorful balls. One man threw one of the balls past another into one of five baskets that were set up in the sand. One of the teams cheered at the point that had been won.

I turned away from their game to see what others were playing. One group was playing at horseshoes. They clapped for a woman when her horseshoe clanged around the metal stake. I knew I would not be playing a game with them today. If I threw something as heavy as a horseshoe it could be very dangerous to anyone near me; better for me to find something less hazardous. I wanted to join in with something quickly to prove that I did belong here despite what Giselle said. Another group of men and women were kicking up the black sand as they danced jovially around. There was no music but that didn't stop the dancers. I thought it odd that they would dance when there was no music playing and I wondered how they all kept time with each other.

"Shall we dance?" A voice said from beside me. It was a man with a thick mustache and very carefully coiffed hair who offered me his hand.

I smiled and tried to be jolly, "But there is no music. I was just wondering at how they all kept from falling about each other in their dance. I do not think I could dance so quickly without ending up flat in the sand.

The man laughed. "It is a very lively jig to be sure, but wait a few moments and it will turn slow and somber."

I started to ask him what he meant when a breeze blew across the water and along the cliffs. The dance did indeed slow down as deep musical notes rippled across the shore and then echoed back. I turned my head quickly around to see where such music was coming from. I had never heard anything like it. The music seemed to rise and fall with the wind. It gave the illusion that it was the music and not the wind that blew my hair. I could feel the notes thrum deep in my chest. While everyone must have heard it, it was only the dancers that seemed to pay any attention as they changed their dance to the music. After looking all around, I turned to ask the man what was making such strange and beautiful music.

"That," he replied, "would be the great Aeolian Harps of Etvor."

* * *

So, the whole 'real life' thing wasn't as fun as Pharyss and I just had to write more regardless of the fact that I still have to get up and go to work again in the morning.

So they all went to the Hall of Pictures this time and got to go through a different picture!

(Oh and just a heads up now, the rating _might_ be bumped up eventually because things will get a bit crazy at the end. Nothing inappropriate or gross, don't worry, but there's going to be some tough times for the characters that might kind of smudge the line between K and T. I'll check the rating stipulations to be sure though.)


	30. Bull's Eye

High up on the cliffs above I could see them. There were great pillars standing out from the cliffs at an angle with nearly invisible white stands pulled tautly between them. While I was admiring the wonderful new instruments the man repeated his question. "Shall we dance, miss?"

He offered me his hand dramatically and I reached out my own when someone else stormed up. "Rupert, what on earth are you doing? You promised me the first dance and the second after that."

A woman had swiped the man's offered hand from before me and began leading him off towards the dance. She was so determinedly walking away that she did not notice the wink that Rupert gave me. I was surprised by his behavior and felt foolish for buying into his charm. I wondered how many other people had been lured in by him so far today. I shook my head and cleared the incident from my mind. It was not an ideal way to start the day, but I was determined to not let it ruin the rest of my time here. I continued my search for something to join in since now the dance was out of the question.

The wind still played the harps as I walked between the games and festivities that were taking place. A group of giggling girls were playing a game that involved carved ducks floating on water. One of them would pull a duck from the barrel, turn it over then show the others who all would laugh. I wondered what sort of game they were playing but did not want to endure the girlish laughter that was taking place enough to find out. Whatever sort of game it was, I did not think I would enjoy it.

Farther away on the beach away from the larger crowd were people flying kites. Dragons and butterflies flew high over the ocean while men and women held their strings. Perhaps I would try my hand at kite flying. As I was making my way over to where the kites were, I heard a very familiar sound. I had not noticed before, but the cliffs took a sharp turn and the beach pushed farther inland. Where the beach was widest, a different sort of game was set up. I forgot the kites and turned to where a row of about seven people were standing facing round targets in front of them. It was an archery contest and it had been so long since I had a chance to practice with a bow. Of course, it was mostly men who were competing and being admired by women standing to the side. It did not matter to me; Andrew had taught me well and I was sure I could hold my own. The men nocked their arrows and took aim. Five of the men hit the target but two arrows buried in the sand. No one scored a bull's eye but one man got quite close. The men who missed the target and one who had just barely hit his put down their bows and stepped away. I stepped up to take one of the empty spots and could hear the whispers.

"Going to try and play with the big boys, eh, girlie?" One of the men jeered.

I ignored him and tested the draw weight of the bowstring and did not notice another person step up beside me. "Do you think you will be able to keep up with us, Sit Wyatt?" The person jeered back.

I recognized the voice as female. Wanting to see what other woman was competing at archery; I looked to my right and almost lost my grip on the bow. Empress Pandia had taken up the other bow and was pulling and arrow from the quiver. She turned and winked at me. "Hello, I am glad to see that there is someone to represent the fairer sex in the lineup."

"Archers, to your marks," someone called. The other archers and I took aim. I looked at the empress out of the corner of my eye. She looked at ease with the bow in her hands and her yellow cat eyes focused on the target. While her gauzy white dress looked out of place for archery, Pandia looked perfectly at ease.

The man gave the order to fire and six arrows whizzed off towards the targets. No one missed this time, although some came close. My arrow hit the third ring from the center circle and was one of the top three shots. Next to me, Pandia was lowering her bow. She had hit the target dead in the center which elicited shocked gasps and cheers from the onlookers.

"Oh dear, Sir Wyatt, it seems your shot got away from you." Pandia teased. "Is this what it is like playing with the big boys?"

The man who was standing at the end of the line was laughing. His arrow had only just hit the target. "Forgive me, empress. It seems that when it comes to archery, you greatly surpass me. This will teach me for doubting you females." Sir Wyatt bowed first to Pandia and then to me and I smiled at his good humor.

"That was a well aimed shot," The empress said to me. I was speechless at first and could not believe that she was speaking to me. She was the heir to the most powerful kingdom of them all and she was speaking to me.

Frantically, my mind tried to form a worthy sentence. "Thank you, your majesty. You are quite skilled yourself."

The empress laid down her bow in the sand. "Would you walk with me?"

I quickly laid down my bow for I did not want to refuse Empress Pandia anything. I was in awe of how important she was. I had grown up reading about her family's and country's history. I had never dreamed that I would meet her in person, let alone be able to converse with her. She slowly walked away from the archers and I walked beside her. She stood taller than me and her feline face was even more beautiful up close. Her white fur was glossy and smooth while her eyes sparkled. There were silver hoops lining the outer edge of one pointed ear. I remembered reading that the hoops where a sign of her authority.

"Archery is not a common talent among women in Lantine. How did you come to learn it?" She asked.

"My brother taught it to me. I have not picked up a bow in years." I explained.

We were nearing where the people were flying kites. Pandia showed no intention of stopping so we continued. "Is your brother here today with you?"

I shook my head. "My brother left years ago to become a knight. He is patrolling the kingdom right now. He has sent word that he may be coming to Pharyss for the celebration. I do hope he arrives soon."

We had looped around and were heading back towards the people on the beach. We walked on the water's edge in front of the kite flyers now. "I have a little sister who is waiting for me back in my home. She is barely more than a kitten and I miss her dearly. I told her that when the celebration has ended and the princess is married that I would fly back to her on the wings of an Aves. I could not imagine being parted from her for years as you and your brother have been."

I smiled at her story. Pandia was kind and gentle. I was sure that one day she would make a wonderful ruler of Mekt. "It is not so terrible. He is happy being a knight and we write letters to each other as often as possible. I nearly have an entire chest full of letters that he has written me over the years." I laughed a bit at the memory of the wooden chest that I kept hidden under my bed at home. It was nearly overflowing now.

Pandia laughed with me. "I'm sure once my sister learns how to send messages that my letter collection will rival yours."

Together, the empress and I walked down the beach to where the picnic tables were set up. We ate and talked for a good half hour at least. She told me about her home in Mekt and I told her about Andrew.

"The last letter he sent me said that he may be coming to the city soon. He has been promoted to an officer because he fought off a dragon. Though, the story may have been exaggerated a bit because he does love to embellish. He said that they were fighting a pine dragon in the west. He and his commanding officer were separated from the other men and my brother saved both of their lives. He is very puffed up about the scars across his face and says he looks dashing now." I proudly told the story of my brother.

"I have heard guards talking of dragon attacks near Eroban. They said that only one man survived and he had lost both legs and one arm. These big ears hear a lot of things, but not all of them are entirely true." Pandia twitched her ears for emphasis. "If it was indeed the same dragon, then your brother sounds like a wonderful man. I would like to meet him one day. You must tell me if he arrives in Pharyss before the royal wedding. Hopefully, the guards had the story wrong and your brother and his patrol did all survive with limbs intact." Pandia talked as she sipped sparkling wine from a goblet.

I readily agreed. Andrew would never forgive me if he did not have the chance to meet a Mektous empress. His fascination with Mekt was even greater than mine. He would never forgive me if he didn't get to flirt with an empress. When I write to him of Pandia he will surely hurry to Pharyss as fast as his horse can possibly go. "He would be greatly honored to meet you, your highness."

"Maybe the added incentive of meeting me will speed his journey here which would be good for you as well." Pandia tipped her goblet towards me.

I laughed and tapped my goblet to hers. "That was my thought exactly."

We were becoming friends and it was almost too unbelievable for me to comprehend. I had never dreamed that I could ever know as many royals as I did now. Talking with Pandia, I felt the weight of all that had happened since I arrived in Pharyss. I was sure that nothing could be better than the things I had already done and seen. Being in Pharyss was like a wonderful dream that I never wanted to end. I was certain that the celebration could only get better from now on.

"Uh oh, here comes trouble." Pandia said and motioned over my shoulder. I looked and saw Prince Hector and Sir Brockton approaching us. "Those two are inseparable. I remember last year at the grand council meeting they couldn't be found for two hours because they had not stayed in the council hall. Brockton had got it into his head that he wanted to look at swords so of course Hector suggested they leave and go to a smith in the middle of a meeting."

Hector and Brockton sat down beside Pandia. "How are you enjoying the party, Pandi?" Brockton asked leaning over the table and craning his neck to look at Pandia.

"I am not having as much fun as you two are, I'm sure. Did you steal a barrel of ale again?" Pandia's yellow eyes sparkled with delight. The three of them must have been close friends.

Hector laughed and Sir Brockton gallantly defended himself and his friend. However, it was obvious that the two of them had been drinking already and were a bit off. I looked around for Victoria; she had been following Hector around recently after all. I did not see her so she must have found Giselle somewhere and stayed with her.

After some playful banter between the three of them, Pandia turned back to me. "Now, have you two met my good friend, Ebony Valix? She and I have been having a lovely conversation. I'm told her brother is a hero."

"Nice to meet you," Brockton exclaimed as he grinned broadly at me from Pandia's other side.

"Have we met before? You look familiar." Hector mused. "You were travelling with Victoria. She told me about you. She said you have been spending some time with my little brother."

I nodded and tried not to blush at the mention of Christian. "Victoria is my stepsister and Prince Christian showed me the hall of pictures a few days ago."

Sir Brockton spun around on the bench and scanned the people on the beach. "Ian should be along shortly. Last I saw of him he had just bested some man in a drinking game. That boy sure can hold his ale. He was with that beautiful blonde woman – Victoria's sister. What was her name? Marielle?"

At the mention of Christian, I began scanning the crowd as well. After a moment I spotted him approaching the table. He was holding a tankard above his head in victory and I could see Giselle following closely behind him. Christian was smiling broadly at everyone he passed and joking with the couple who were walking along with him as he approached.

* * *

Hey, look at that - another chapter!


	31. Fire

Christian and Giselle came to stand beside where we sat at the table. The other couple had turned off to play a game. "Good afternoon, everyone," He greeted. "Empress Pandia, where have you been hiding yourself? I see that you have met my friend Ebony. I hope my brother and his annoying friend weren't giving you too much trouble. Myself and some of my comrades are going to light a fire in one of the bigger caves around here, would you like to join us?"

"No thank you, I think I shall stay here and see what other games I haven't played yet." Pandia stated as she stood up and walked away along the beach. She looked back at me as if questioning if I was would join her but I shook my head. I wanted to go with Christian.

"Ebony, would you care to join me then?" The prince turned to me and offered his hand. "Your sister Giselle will also be joining us."

Giselle stepped up from where she stood behind Christian and he took her hand as well as mine. I laughed as he enthusiastically spun us around back towards the cliffs. "It seems you have been enjoying yourself," I joked.

"Oh, yes, your lovely sister has been absolutely delightful and I just defeated a knight in drinking. Today is going very well. Have you seen my sister yet? Giselle says that she and Reginald have abandoned their guests for a romantic walk along the beach. Ah, here we are." Christian led us both into a large cave where a pile of driftwood was already burning blue and white.

There were already people sitting on logs around the fire and talking. I spotted Victoria and some other women on the opposite side of the fire. Hector walked past where I stood with Christian and Giselle to sit beside Victoria. She happily greeted them as Christian directed us to a large vacant log. Giselle hesitated a moment before carefully sitting on the crumbly wood beside Christian. I was seated on his other side. It was odd being with both of them at the same time. I had caught the glares that Giselle had given me behind his back as we walked, even though Christian did not. She would not be so vengeful with the prince so close, but I feared she might unleash her anger when we returned to the Gilded Leopard. As for now, I would just try to enjoy Christian's company.

He had launched into the tale of how he had defeated the knight in their game. "Sir Clayton has never been known for his ability to hold his ale, but I did not expect him to be such a lightweight. We both made it through the first drink easy enough and the second as well. The third was when Clay started to show signs of defeat. He swayed a bit in his seat and already the ale was sloshing out of his beaker as he lifted it to his lips. That was when I knew I had won."

"Oh, Christian, you are so talented." Giselle crooned from his other side.

The prince turned and smiled brightly at her. His voice was growing louder as he caught the attention of the other people sitting around the fire. "I do have a certain amount of skill for drinking. Even if I wasn't as good as I am now, I am sure that I could still have drunken that poor knight under the table."

Christian laughed and a few men who had wandered in to hear the story laughed with him. I smiled and tried to laugh even though I did not catch the joke. Drinking seemed like an odd thing to have competitions in to me and I had never learned the rules or seen a game before. Giselle seemed to understand for she was laughing heartily with Christian. I was starting to feel out of place in the conversation. Abruptly, Christian stood up and spread his arms out wide and exclaimed, "I feel as if no man can best me today!"

"Careful, my lord," One of the men said. He was a large man with broad shoulders and a barrel chest who was leaning against the cave wall with a few other men. "I have heard about the captain's boy who drinks alcohol like water and has never been beaten in a challenge. If he were here today, perhaps there would be one who could offer you a bit of competition."

Christian waved his hand dismissively. "Bah, that insufferable prick couldn't sip wine at dinner. Besides he is not here today and what a blessing that is. Master Niko is a dark cloud at any festivity. Even if he were here, I could trounce him as easily as I did Sir Clayton."

I was shocked that Christian would speak so unkindly of another person. However, I remembered Niko from the ball and he had seemed aloof. He must have been simply unbearable to be talked about in such a way. The man made no response to Christian's accusations, so he went on. "Why I remember once when the advisors had held council, Niko didn't deign to show up. His father was livid. The council meetings are important to Captain Rydell and he so wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and be a council member. Captain Rydell always speaks about how his son is running rampant through the town doing unspeakable things. If I were that scoundrel's father, I would send him away to fight a few battles as a soldier to teach him some respect."

Christian had sat back down and at the end of his speech everyone else had returned to their own individual conversations. I tried to draw his attention to me and away from Giselle who seemed about ready to pounce. "Niko sounds absolutely horrible. I saw him at the ball with his father. I didn't hear him speak a word to anyone." It was a bit of an exaggeration because I had only seen him for a few moments, but I felt that maybe we could start a conversation that Giselle couldn't intrude on.

"That sounds just like him," Christian had turned away from Giselle and was now completely facing me. I felt a moment of triumph that I had distracted a man from Giselle. I hoped that Giselle had not met Niko at some point in the crowds of people who were at the ball that night. "He and I used to get on very well when we were younger. I don't know what happened, but as we grew older he became simply insufferable. I think that if he had grown up better we would still be close friends."

I shook my head, "It is a terrible thing to lose a friend."

Christian nodded in agreement. "I try not to dwell on the loss too frequently. It is better this way because I think he is a bad influence on people and I would not want him influence me negatively."

I was impressed by Christian's wisdom in how he dealt with the loss of his friend. He had handled it in the best way possible and it only made me like him all the more. I was about to speak again when Giselle decided to interrupt and pull Christian's attention away from me yet again. She was so much better at this than I was. On the night of the ball she had found him long before I had and today she had done the same. It was like she could sense where he was at all times and act accordingly. Perhaps if she did not have such a keen sense for finding royalty, then I would be able to talk to Christian uninterrupted and without competition. I had never felt this way for a man before and felt I was bumbling enough without the added pressure.

"Oh, Christian," Giselle gushed. "That was so noble of you. I'm sure that it takes an extraordinary man to be able to see the virtue of choosing good friends. You are so much better off without that rotten Niko. Why, I remember I was once in a similar situation with a girl I knew back in Lyscos. Her name was Abigail. She was closer to me than a sister when we were growing up. Then once we turned sixteen she began spending time with the miller's boy and the butcher's boy and at the local tavern. Abigail tried desperately to get me to go along with her to these places, but I firmly refused. Even though it pained me, I knew I had to break off our friendship."

I frowned. I remembered Abigail. Before we left for Pharyss, I saw her a few times a week around the town. She was a sweet girl and did none of the things that Giselle said. It was instead Giselle who became mean to the people around her so Abigail stopped spending as much time with my stepsisters. Giselle and Abigail were friends as children but it was not Abigail that went sour. Perhaps I could casually expose Giselle's lie to the prince.

"I remember Abigail," I said as I leaned around the prince to look directly at Giselle. "I hear she only spent time at the miller's and butcher's to teach their sons how to read. They are children you see and their parents did not want to send them to school in the winter because they were still very young to be out in the cold every day. Abigail offered to teach them in the winter months so they would not fall far behind."

Giselle pasted on a smile that only I could tell was forced. "You must not have known her as well as I did, dear Ebony. She was one of my dearest friends if you remember."

Christian had been distracted from our little argument by Sir Brockton who had entered the cave. He created quite a ruckus and everyone turned to listen to him. "Since our esteemed hosts have decided to abandon us for the company of each other in the form of romantic long walks on the beach, I have taken it upon myself to conduct the scavenger hunt!"

On the far side of the fire, Hector stood up and joined his friend. "That's right, I almost forgot. My sister prepared a scavenger hunt for all the guests today. You will join up into teams of two or three and search the beach for the items. Once everyone is gathered, then my friend here will hand out the hunt lists. Now, everyone get to the picnic tables to begin and form your groups. We are going to try and fit this in before the sun goes down."

Sir Brockton and Hector left the cave to gather up the rest of the people for the scavenger hunt. I did not miss the gesture Hector gave Victoria to follow them. It seemed the three of them were to be on a team together. I turned to Christian to try and be on his team, but Giselle had already pulled him away. I did not want to be stuck on a team with both of them together. I followed them to the tables and tried to think of a way to get Giselle on another team.

I had not come up with a worthwhile plan by the time I joined the growing crowd at the picnic tables. It seemed that Sir Brockton had already told others to gather and teams were starting to form.

"Oh, Ebony," I turned at the sound of my name to see Empress Pandia waving to me from a few yards away. "Do you have a team yet? Pernyx and I could do with another teammate."

I glanced at where Giselle and Christian were standing and sighed. It seemed that I would not be seeing him much more today. Besides, I would rather be with Pandia where I would have fun than deal with the stress of Giselle. I joined Pandia and Pernyx. The ambassador from Kiatyss seemed even paler in the sunlight and her pale blue eyes were sharp beneath the black lashes. Her light blue dress matched the haunting color of her eyes. She greeted me with a slight inclination of her head but did not say anything.

"Pernyx is a bit shy around new people. Kiatians do not speak much upon first meetings. I have known her for years and she still only speaks to me in the barest of whispers." Pandia explained.

"Compared to the loud Mektous, you would find me shy." I barely heard Pernyx when she spoke. Pandia seemed to hear her easier and laughed heartily.

"That is true, my friend. The Mektous is a loud and energetic bunch. We do enjoy our conversation." Pandia put a hand to her lips and mock whispered to me, "You can imagine the assemblies between our two nations are some of the strangest things you have ever seen."

I laughed, imagining it and even Pernyx cracked a thin smile.

"Attention, teams!" Sir Brockton shouted from where he stood on one of the tables. Hector was standing on the ground before him holding a stack of papers. "Now that you all have gathered here and hopefully have joined into teams, let the games begin! The winner of the scavenger hunt will be awarded this handsome trophy here beside me. The list is composed of a hundred items and whoever finds the most wins the game! You all have until sunset to search and the best of luck to all of you!"

The trophy was about half a foot tall and made of silver that caught the light beautifully. All the teams rushed forward to receive the hunt lists then all went separate directions to search. I heard one man say his team would win because he knew these cliffs like the back of his hand. Another woman worried about getting her dress dirty. My team took one of the papers from Hector and went to get one of the canvas bags that had been piled around the table. Altogether, I guessed there were about forty teams. With all those people excitedly hurrying off, it did not take long for me to become excited as well.

* * *

Maybe it's just because I'm tired, but this chapter seemed to be really long when I read through it again. I should have been getting my textbook for my class but this is more fun and it was raining out anyway.


	32. The Hunt

The first few items on the list were simple enough to locate because they were usual beach items like seashells or driftwood. As the list went on and our sack filled with the hunt items, they became increasingly difficult to obtain. The twenty first item on the list was a carved animal that we eventually found up high near the archery equipment. The carvings were set above small targets, some of which had arrows embedded in them. The animals that were above those targets were gone.

Pandia shielded her eyes as she looked up at the rows of targets. "Well, I think the mission here is obvious."

Pernyx silently went to where bows were piled and handed one to Pandia. She picked up one of the fallen arrows from the sand and took her aim. It was easy for her to choose a target and hit the center to release the carved animal. I went to retrieve it from where it fell in the sand.

"Well, what do you know, we got a tiger." I stated as I turned the small piece of wood in my hand.

Pandia took it from me and glanced at it before tossing it in the bag. "Of course I got us a tiger. What other animal would I have aimed for?"

I looked up at the carvings that were still with their targets. I could barely make out what sort of creature each one was. They were barely the size of a chess piece and nearly fifteen feet above our heads. Pandia must have had incredible eye sight to have seen and chosen a specific one.

"What's next on the list?" I asked. Pandia had taken lead and held the list while Pernyx quietly carried the bag. I had not heard her speak since the game began. So far the items had been far spread out along the stretch of beach and so were the teams as they searched. A ways away I spotted Victoria's familiar dress as the prince climbed up a short ways on the cliff to get a certain type of rock that had placed in an alcove there. It was the item that my team had gathered before the carved animal.

We found more items from the list until we were very near the end. Most of the items we skipped over because the clues didn't make sense and our plan was to find all the easy items first then go back for the more difficult ones. One of the final items was to find a couple.

"Find a couple," I asked, "A couple of what?"

Pandia shrugged. "I don't know. It just says to find a couple. Maybe it just means to find two of anything and call it a couple."

"Maybe we are finding two things that look alike and form a pair." I suggested.

"It means we are to find Prince Reginald and Princess Joslynn. They are the main couple at this gathering and they haven't been seen in awhile. They were probably going away so we could find them as part of the scavenger hunt." Pandia and I turned to look at Pernyx as she calmly and quietly explained what the clue meant.

"We cannot get them and put them in our bag to bring back." I mused.

"Maybe that is why they are one of the last items on the list. We have to bring our findings to them." Pandia suggested. Pernyx nodded in agreement. "We still have other things to find so we should look a bit longer before we find the prince and princess."

We did search a bit longer and found a fair few of the other items on the list. While we were scouring the beach, the sky was gradually growing darker. A storm was rolling in from across the water. We reasoned that other teams had already seen the storm clouds and had already set out on finding the royal couple for the last clue. We were passing fewer teams on the beach now. The wind was making the Aeolian harps sing, but this time the tune was quick and angry as the winds picked up speed. We were a ways away from where the main party was held and quickly started making our way back there. Other teams were hurrying before us and a few more came from behind.

"Hey, Pandia!" Someone called over the wind as we neared the cave with the portal in it.

The three of us turned and saw both princes and their teams coming to meet us. We only slowed enough for them to catch up. The first few drops of rain were already starting to fall. Giselle and Victoria were huddled together against the drops and neither of them looked very happy. Hector, Christian, and Sir Brockton seemed to be enjoying the weather and skipped and leapt in the damp sand.

"How did your team fare? I am afraid to say that I we did dismally." Christian said happily when he came into stride with me. His teammate and her sister were already hurrying ahead with their heads down against the wind and rain.

"We did rather well, I think. We found over half the items on the list." I replied proudly. That was sure to impress Christian.

Hector bounded around in front of our line of people and walked backward so he could face us. "That is quite a bit better than us. We were barely able to find a mere twenty items. My sister is a clever one and has a love for these sorts of things. She thinks she is making it easy but forgets that not everyone shares her love of puzzles."

"Maybe it wasn't the clues that were difficult, have you ever considered that you are just thick?" Pandia joked from where she walked beside me.

Christian and Brockton laughed while I just smiled. I was the odd one out now and I did not want to offend any of the important people I was walking with. They had all seemed to grow up together. Hector pretended to be insulted and dramatically put a hand to his chest. "Me? Thick? I should think not. Even if I was, I was teamed up with the clever Victoria Kingston who may give you a run for your money, Pandia."

I highly doubted that Victoria could outwit very many people. The only cleverness she had even exhibited was ensnaring young men into doing her bidding. If there were handsome men to find on the scavenger hunt then she would have surely done very well.

Pandia just waved a hand dismissively at the comment. "If she is as smart as you say then I should very much like to meet her. I must see if I am truly threatened by her or if my cleverness is safe."

Hector grinned broadly. "Then I will introduce you two at the tournament. I have invited her and her sister to join us in the royal seats. She tells me that she has never seen a tournament before and I simply insisted. You are invited as well, Ebony. I know how much my brother would appreciate it."

Hector winked roguishly at his brother and Christian looked away. I smiled at Christian's bashfulness. Now I was sure to be able to see him without distraction. The tournament days were scattered until the end of the celebration and I would be able to spend them with the prince. Giselle would not even be in much of a mood to latch onto him as strongly for she would have Joslynn to talk to. She would also take displeasure in being out of doors for such an extended period and that would put her in a sour mood. When Christian turned back to me he affirmed his brother's statement and offered me his arm. I gladly took it and thought that my smile would break my face if it got any wider.

We arrived at the cave to find Joslynn, Reginald, Victoria, and Giselle waiting. We were all nearly soaked through when we stepped into the cave. Joslynn welcomed us and took our sacks that were filled with all our findings. "Well, brother, it is certain that you did not win. There is barely anything in here." Joslynn said as she looked in the sack Hector handed her.

Hector just shrugged and turned to talk to his other teammates. Another group arrived in the cave just as Pernyx handed our items to Joslynn. From the looks of the pile that was already started along the wall of the cave, ours was definitely one of the fuller ones. I hoped that we would win now that I saw we had such a good chance. The other team's bag joined the ones along the wall. Reginald was tagging them with the names of the people in each team to keep them all separated.

"Since the rain has interrupted my plans for today, the winner will be announced once we all return to the castle. Thaddeus and Marigold are waiting to show you to where we will all be meeting on the other side of the picture." The princess explained as she motioned to the cave wall behind her that I knew to be part of the portal.

Victoria had volunteered to stay with the princess while she ushered the last of the teams back to the castle. Giselle was still adamantly clinging to Christian. Pandia and Pernyx were the first to return to the castle and I followed with Christian and Giselle. Like Joslynn had said, the two servants were waiting inside the hall of pictures. They informed us that we were some of the last groups to return. Everyone had been accounted for but six people. The older servant Marigold showed us to a sitting room large enough to seat everyone comfortably and provided us with warm towels to dry ourselves off as best we could.

"Come, Ebony, our team will sit on this nice sofa here." Pandia grabbed the hand that I had not placed on Christians arm and started towards a clean white couch. I looked back at Christian and tried to politely refuse for I wanted to sit with him and the couch she mentioned only seated three. Pandia would not have it, "Come now, teammates must stick together."

Pernyx had already quietly seated herself on the sofa and was calmly staring straight ahead. I was slowly getting used to her strange way of behavior. Pandia had informed me that it was how all Kiatians acted. I looked longingly at where Giselle curled up next to Christian on a loveseat as I took my place beside Pernyx.

"Don't worry about your prince; there will be plenty of times to see him over the course of the month. Remember you are going to sit with him at the tournament." Pandia whispered once we were all seated.

I looked at Pandia. I was doing my best to not be annoyed with her for pulling me away from the prince. It seemed that I had no luck in seeing him so far first at the ball and then at the beach. "Yes, but Giselle will be there also." I muttered.

Pandia laughed. "You are a much more substantial person than her. If the prince is smart he will see that."

Pandia was making light of the situation and I thought that perhaps I was too focused on Christian. I did not want to devolve into one of the girls who do nothing but scheme on how to get into a man's good graces. I reminded myself that it was I that Christian had invited to the hall of pictures the first time and not Giselle. I hoped Pandia was right and that Christian would see how shallow Giselle was before long and was not distracted from her personality by her beautiful face as so many men were.

Before long, the rest of the people arrived. Joslynn and Reginald stood up in the center of the room with the trophy to announce the winners. "It was a close match between four of the teams. No team managed to complete the list and find everything, but a few came close. To start I would like to mention my dear brother and his team for their efforts. Hector, Sir Brockton, and my good friend Victoria all teamed up together. Despite of him helping organize the scavenger hunt and putting items around the beach, Hector and his team had the least out of everyone." From around the room came muffled laughs. Hector had not mentioned that he had helped his sister with the hunt which made it all the more humorous that he did not find the things he had hidden.

Before Hector could defend himself to his sister and the room, she continued. "However the winner did exceedingly better than my brother and his team. The winners had returned to the cave with ninety-eight items from the list even before the rain started and brought everyone else back. Lord Dimmock and Duchess Ojera please come forward and accept your prize."

Everyone applauded as the pair stood up to take the trophy. I glanced to see Giselle's and Victoria's reactions to being beaten by someone they disliked so much. Giselle was barely managing to keep her countenance while Victoria was merely frowning. I was impressed that they had managed to do so well. Some of the items on the list were so confusing to my team that we thought that no one would be able to decipher them. If they had puzzled it all out, then Lord Dimmock and Ojera deserved the trophy.

Lord Dimmock took the trophy from Joslynn and handed it to Ojera, "For the woman who did most of the hunting."

Ojera swept into a graceful curtsy and thanked the lord graciously, "I could not have done it without your help."

* * *

So yeah, there's the next chapter. The chapters are really getting out of hand because there is so many. So I could either (A) reorder them now and just write uneven length chapters for the rest of the story (which I'm not going to do because of my intense writing OCD), (B) finish the story and then do like weekly updates once a week or something with the longer chapters (and it's going to be a while to finish the story so I don't want to do that to the readers), and (C) I just leave it like it is and post the like 150 chapters (yikes!) this story is going to be at this rate and figure it all out at the end. I'm probably going to go with the third option and see how annoying it will be having to sort through dozens of chapters. Hopefully the chapter titles will help with finding things easier when the chapters start piling up.

150 chapters, yes that is what I said. I'm guessing based on the outline I have set up and this story is going to be crazy long. I hope that with such a long story that it doesn't get annoying further on and also that it doesn't feel like you are just reading the same thing over and over again because the characters can't get it together. Personally though, I think the outline is super exciting throughout and the story just keeps slowly escalating in excitement until the denouement. It will be up to you readers though to tell me if the writing is taking a turn for the worse. I will try my very best to avoid that, but sometimes I can be biased and miss things.

I would like to thank you all for your concern about my procrastination on schoolwork! You are all lovely people! I will get my textbook tomorrow for sure and do my homework then. It's only a 500 word essay due on Friday and after this monster of a story 500 words is nothing.

OK, end long author's note.


	33. Fluffers

The following day was my first day of the festival to spend as I liked and I wanted to see the town as it celebrated. I was completely free to do so as Giselle and Victoria were off somewhere with their group of friends. I did not know where I would go first because there was just so much to see. The inn was holding a party of sorts for their important guests and their friends, but I was tired of formal parties. I wanted to be out where the common people were with their loud songs and wild dancing. I had seen the nobility's side of the celebration and now I wanted to see the other. I dressed comfortably in my brother's old clothes and left the inn. I received many strange looks when I hurried past the people in the main hall. It was unusual to see a woman in man's clothes in general and I was at one of the richest inns in the city. I just ducked my head and ignored their stares. In the streets I was less conspicuous. The road that the Gilded Leopard occupied was not as boisterous as some of the other streets around the palace. All the people who were around this street were not the types to party in the streets. There were still some people walking about and making merry, but I was sure that if I were to travel farther away from this place that I could find streets filled with happy people. Those were the streets I set off in search of.

I figured that a square would be a likely spot for finding people celebrating and I was correct. In the nearest square that I knew of, there was a carnival with game booths and vendors and peddlers. People shouted their wares to me from every side and children dashed around between them. There were musicians that were playing a variety of instruments for money everywhere as well so there was music and song everywhere. In the very center of the square there was a high pole with long ribbons hanging from the top. Children would hold the ribbons and dance around the pole so the colored streamers made a rainbow around the pole. The atmosphere here was different than it had been at Etvor. Here the air was buzzing with unbridled excitement and people of all ages were laughing loudly and without reservation. While looking at the things around me I accidentally bumped into a man who was going the opposite way.

"Excuse me," I said but the man ignored me and just walked on.

"People aren't as formal as that around here, you know." Standing near a game booth was the tall blonde with the strange eyes. Kol looked much different in the sunlight. His face was less devilish without the added shadows, but his lips still held a wickedly playful curl even when he wasn't fully smiling. "You may want to get to know the locals before wandering their town."

"Good morning to you too," I stated bluntly and walked on.

Kol smiled and moved to walk beside me. "You missed a superb party the other night at the lamp posts, Ebb. There was food and dancing and a few brawls – everything a party should have."

"Fights do not make for a good party and I had to get back that night because I attended the royal ball." I bragged. Surely a ball was more exciting than some street party. I previously had no one to talk to about the ball and I was near bursting with not being able to talk about it.

"Oh, the first royal ball to start off the celebration. You were lucky to merit an invitation. Good friends with the royal family then are you? From what I hear, the royal balls are somber affairs with stuffy old codgers trading war stories and women giggling behind their lace fans. It all sounds rather boring to me." I watched as Kol nimbly lifted two apples from a barrel with one hand and handed one to me.

"You shouldn't steal. What if you were to get caught? And the ball was nothing like that. It was wonderful. There were plenty of handsome gentlemen and beautiful ladies. It is not boring at all. I am in fact friends with Prince Christian and I had a wonderful time at the ball." I debated going back and paying for the two apples that Kol took from the vendor then decided against it. If I were to go back the man might have thought I had stolen them and alert the guards.

We were walking aimlessly through the crowds now and I did not know whether or not I minded that Kol had decided to walk with me. One the one hand, having someone who knew the town could be helpful. Then again, he was nearly a perfect stranger. I decided that it would be alright to walk with him here in this crowded place where nothing too bad could happen. He didn't seem a very bad sort, but I couldn't be too cautious.

"Ah, so the charming Prince Christian made the ball exciting for you. I'm sure many young women share your opinion of him. Did you dance with him?" Kol teased.

"That is none of your concern. I am not some love-struck twit who grasps at even glimpsing the prince. He is truly my friend and that is not some fanciful imagining that I came up with." I tried to defend myself. He was treating me as if I was just boasting about some imagined connection with the prince.

I noticed Kol's side long glance and his mischievous grin. "Of course you are friends with the prince; I do not think you are making it up. So do you have designs on marrying him and becoming a princess then? I know many girls who are planning something similar. If you are planning on becoming a princess, then you are quite a bit better off than others I know of seeing as you have already met him."

I ducked my head to hide the color that was rising to my cheeks. I did not entertain any underhanded schemes to somehow wed the prince, but the thought had crossed my mind a few times. How could it not? The prince had shown a particular interest in me and it seemed that the more I saw him the more possible that outcome became.

When I did not answer, Kol went on. "It's of no matter to me. A woman's secrets are her own. You came here for the celebration; just like everyone else. Well, you have chosen a fine spot to be sure, but there are much better places than this in the city."

"How do you mean?" I knew the city held many wonders during the princess's marriage celebration, but I did not need to see the biggest and best so soon. To me the square we were walking now seemed perfect for today. Still, seeing something incredible was horribly tempting.

Kol shrugged. "This square is adequate if you are small child who is looking for cheap thrills. Personally, I prefer something a bit more intriguing. As a matter of fact I was heading to a place not far from here to see one of those things when I happened across you."

"Well, don't let me stop you if you are going somewhere."

He laughed and quickened his step so he was now walking backwards in front of me. I could not get over the blackness of his eyes, still dark in the bright sunlight. His face was just so devilishly handsome; so different from the traditionally handsome men. Even his blonde hair fell over his forehead in a roguish way. "Would you like to join me? The place is only a few streets over and I've even arranged for Tim to give me a lift on his hay cart. I'm sure he has room for one more."

Should I go with him? He did seem to know the town better than me after all. Perhaps he could show me something more fascinating than this square. On the other hand, what did I really know about him? He was a boy who ran wild in the streets. He had admitted to being a thief already and who knows what else he got up to in crowded squares and dark alleyways. "What is this fascinating thing you are going to see?" I asked slowly.

Kol smiled brightly showing bright white teeth in a curling grin. "That's the spirit, Ebb! I am going to go see Tibbar the Magnificent. He is a famous magician that travels throughout all the kingdoms performing. He has even been to Mekt and was successful in a place where magic is common place. He has not been to Pharyss in nearly eight years and if we don't hurry then the venue will be too packed to watch the performance. Oh, look, there's Tim now."

I looked to where a tired looking grey horse was hitched up to a small hay cart. A man in a floppy straw hat sat in the front of the cart and waved when he saw Kol. He waved back in return and grabbed my hand to lead me to the cart. I quickly pulled my hand from his and stopped following him causing him to turn and face me. "I never said I would join you on your little trip. The square is quite to my liking."

Kol rolled his eyes playfully and took my hand once again. "Don't be ridiculous. You came to Pharyss for adventure, not to see the perfunctory amusements that are available anywhere. Live a little."

_Live a little. _In a hasty decision that I did not let myself think through, I allowed him to pull me onwards and I hopped up in the cart next to him. He was right; I would never have adventures staying in the easy places of the town. I told myself that Kol meant me no harm and that Tibbar the Magnificent would be worth taking tiny risk to go see.

"There now," Kol grinned as the cart began rolling over the cobblestones. "That wasn't so hard."

"I really hope you are not taking me away to kidnap me or commit some other outlandish offence." I half joked.

Kol winked and adopted a crude accent when he answered, "Aye, wee lassie, 'ah bees takin' yer off to the tower dungeon an' holdin' you for a 'andsome ransom." He even closed one eye and hunched his back to look more menacing. The end effect was more comical than frightening and I found myself smiling.

"Oh my, oh my, what ever shall I do," I responded in a breathy high pitched voice. I even went as far as to put a hand to my forehead as if I were about to faint.

Kol chuckled at my performance and I felt a little more at ease with him. Now I could feel excitement rising at seeing the great magician I had heard about. I doubted there was a person in all the kingdoms who had not heard of Tibbar. I was sure that the rumors of him I heard far off in my little town were greatly exaggerated for it was all passed along from traveling bards and traders. Nevertheless, for a man to have such a reputation then he must have lived up to his title of magnificent. Kol seemed to know about the last time the magician was in town. "Did you see Tibbar when he was last in town?"

Kol shook his head. "I tried, but no one would let a scrawny thirteen year old through the crowd around the stage and I was too short then to see over people. I did try to find something to stand on to see over the crowds but to no avail. All I heard was the amazed gasps from the people who could see him. Not this time though. This time I will see Tibbar the Magnificent no matter what."

"You seem very determined; at least you are tall enough now to see over the crowds if you cannot get through them."

"Oh, I intend to be right in front of the stage. I don't want to look over people's heads from far away. I will make sure that we have a good view from front and center." Kol asserted.

"And how do you intend to get to the front of the crowd so easily? People are probably still as against letting people push past them and they were when you were younger. Are you going to fight your way to the front?" I teased.

Kol nodded in mock solemnity. "If I must I will box the whole of the crowd to get to the front. Hopefully you are good at the sport so you can help me cut through the crowd."

I shook my head. "A lady does not fight with her fists."

Cheekily, Kol glanced down at the man's outfit I was wearing. "And you look very ladylike today, Ebb. But if you insist on not fighting alongside me, then I suppose I will just have to use my incredible talents of a thief to expertly dodge around people and maneuver my way to the front. Would that be a more ladylike thing to do?"

"You aren't going to steal from the people are you?" I lectured. "I don't want to be part of any crimes while I am with you."

"Don't worry, dear Ebb. I only steal from the best sort of people like you. Actually after meeting you, a person who was the victim of my thievery, I have done my level best to kick the habit altogether. I think I have made fine progress. In these few days I have only nicked one or two small baubles from people on the streets and one of them was when I took my friend Roark's reading glasses. He can't actually read you see and had just found the things lying in the street one day. But don't fret; I gave them back within the hour."

"I am not joking, Kol, no stealing from people today. I saw you take the apple in the square and I don't want you taking anything else."

He nodded seriously when he answered. "I promise that I will not pick pocket anyone today if it really means that much to you."

"Thank you," I said hoping that he would keep his promise. It was in the moment of silence that followed that I looked around at where we were. There were less people around which was strange since the entire town was celebrating. It looked as if we had gone more than a few streets away. "Where are we? I think we have gone too far."

Kol looked around and turned to speak to Tim who was still leading the horse forward. Kol whistled to get his attention. "Tim, where are you taking us? I thought we were going to see Tibbar."

The man turned around halfway and looked at us from under his floppy hat. "I thought you were going back to the lower town today. I thought that I could make a stop up this way before I took you down into the lower town. You know how Mrs. Gerber likes fresh hay to stuff a bed for her crazy dog."

Kol smiled at the mention of the dog. "You've gone too far from where we wanted to go so instead of going into the lower city, you can just turn and return the way we came to the square. I think you would not mind the shorter trip." Tim nodded and stopped the cart before one of the small houses that sat back from the road. Then Kol turned to address me. "I'm sorry, Ebb, it seems I poorly communicated my intentions when I spoke to Tim this morning. Hopefully we will be able to see Tibbar still. I think we can still make it. However, Tim was not kidding about Mrs. Gerber's crazy dog and I would much like to not see the beast today. Would you care for a stroll to stretch our legs?"

I jumped off the cart after Kol but was wary of wandering too far from the cart in a part of town I had never seen before. Then I heard the deep barks of what sounded like a massive dog from behind the door of the house. I looked to where Tim was climbing off the cart and approaching the house. The barks got louder and I could hear a woman's shouts telling the dog to be quiet. The door opened a crack and I glimpsed a massive brown dog going wild on the other side. "Maybe just around the corner," I conceded, I did not want the 'crazy dog' to get lose and attack me. It looked nearly half as tall as I was and an animal that size could easily cause a lot of damage especially with the frenzied way that one was acting.

"Fluffers isn't a mean dog, he's just too overenthusiastic." Kol explained above the barks as we quickly walked away around the corner.

* * *

Ooh, a (comparatively) long chapter...

Just so you all know, I have slowed down on posting this story, not on writing it. I just want to write it at the moment and not proof read it so there's been less of the latter going on.


	34. Running

Once we rounded the corner I relaxed somewhat. I hoped Tim could handle the mad canine on his own for a few moments. "Why does she keep a dog like that?"

Kol shrugged. "I think it has something to do with her son who went away. When he married, his wife did not like Fluffers – for good reason – so he told Mrs. Gerber that she could either keep the dog or get rid of it since he was going to live in another town with his new wife. Poor Mrs. Gerber decided to keep the dog instead of being left alone."

I looked down at the cobbles under my feet and muttered a simple, "Oh."

We walked slowly down the narrow side street for a little ways farther when I noticed Kol kept glancing back over his shoulder. When I looked back as well, I could not see anything. Kol noticed me turn and slid his hand into mine. "I'm so sorry, Ebb." He whispered.

Confused I went along with him as he quickened his pace. "What do you mean? Shouldn't we be returning to the cart now? I think we have gone far enough."

I looked back over my shoulder again and this time I saw them. A group of five men were creeping out of a tiny space between buildings that we had passed moments ago. I had not paid any attention to what was in the dark shadows as we passed and now our way back to the cart was cut off. My breathing hitched and my heart sped up its pace. The men were skulking along behind us. They had not yet made a move to attack and I fooled myself into thinking that they were not intent of doing us harm. The second time I turned to look back at them I saw a wiry man with a scraggly blonde ponytail give the other four a signal. The group stopped their skulking and charged.

Kol had not dared glance back since the men emerged from the shadows and now he squeezed my hand tightly. "Run!" He commanded and I was quick to obey. Together we dashed away down the narrow street. I could not see anywhere the path we were on crossed a main road. The only place to turn was into one of the narrow alleys between the buildings which would do no good.

I could hear the heavy footsteps of our pursuers and I could tell they were gaining on us. My fear lent speed to my feet as I ran alongside Kol. I could tell that he was running slower to accommodate me. His legs were longer and I was sure that if he did not have me in tow then he could have easily outrun the men. I imagined that I could feel their breath on the back of my neck and tried to run faster. Kol resolutely clung to my hand so tightly that my knuckles were aching and I was glad. I was not alone and that added a tiny bit of comfort.

"There," I gasped. Ahead of us was a road on which I could see people walking about. If we could make it just a bit farther than we would be safe.

"Come on, mates. We caught a right couple of duckies here." One of the men behind us called. His voice was much too close for my liking.

I kept my eyes focused ahead and dared not look back again and lose my footing. That's when I saw three more men step out from another space between buildings, effectively cutting off our path to the main road. Kol and I slowed down at the appearance of the new group of men, but we could not stay where we were. "Come on, this way." Kol pulled me sharply to the right and we began running between the buildings. It was more difficult in the small space that was littered with debris. Kol was gracefully leaping over broken crates and piles of trash carelessly while I was carefully watching where I placed my feet as we ran. A few times my feet caught on rubbish, but somehow I kept going.

The men were behind us in a moment, now a group of eight. If they caught us we were done for. "I'm so sorry, Ebb." Kol said again as if it was his fault the men were chasing us.

"Apologize once we escape!" I rasped at him right before we turned down another narrow path and then another in an attempt to lose the gang behind us. My breath was scraping through my throat with each ragged breath.

The men were shouting threats behind us as they followed. "Look at you, pretty girly; come on and lets have us a chat.

"You can't run forever, you two!"

"I'll bet you have a nice bit of money on you. Care to give it to us?"

"I'll skin you alive when I catch you, boy, and then take your pretty friend all for myself."

"We're going to catch you!"

The men laughed amongst themselves at their threats and continued to make horrible promises about what they would do when they caught us. I didn't know how much longer I could run. My legs were beginning to become less sure and more wobbly as I dodged around the trash before me. Kol was nearly dragging me behind him now, but he refused to let me go. All the while the men were slowly gaining on us. Then we turned again in the twisted maze that was between the buildings.

It was the wrong turn. Kol slammed his fist against the stone wall that blocked one end of the way. Knowing we were trapped the men slowed and one by one turned the corner to completely block us in. I leaned my head against the wall and felt tears on my face as each breath ripped up my throat. I was going to die and that was probably not the worst thing that the men would do to me. I decided that Kol was bad luck and I should have never gone with him on this foolish "adventure". Curse the men, curse Kol, and curse my own stupidity.

Kol defensively stood in front of me and looked to prepare for a fight, but there was no way he could take on eight men. He was also winded from our frantic run. Now that we had stopped my legs could barely support me and I could feel them shake with fear and exertion. The wiry blonde man stepped to the front of the group. He seemed to be the leader. His lips pressed together in a thin smile and his beady eyes took in his prey. "All that running just to end up here, poor little duckies," He leered.

"It would be smart for you all to turn and forget you saw us." Kol growled.

The men laughed. The leader pulled a wicked looking knife from his belt. "Look here, men. This little lad is trying to be brave for his lady. Should we show him how bravery is rewarded in these parts?"

Kol did not back down and the man advanced on him holding the knife. I placed a hand on Kol's shoulder. I did not want to see him fight this man for he would surely lose. "Kol, don't," I whispered.

He half way turned his head to look back at me and it was not the Kol I knew. His face was no longer playful and happy. His eyes did not gleam in childish mischief. They were hard and cold like bits of black ice. His mouth was not on the verge of smiling like it normally was, but rather his jaw was set in grim defiance. He looked more terrifying than the thugs in that moment and I shrank back against the wall. My blood had turned cold at seeing his face. What had I gotten myself into? "It is my fault you are here and I will not let them hurt you." He murmured darkly before turning back to face his adversary.

"You think this pathetic show of bravado will save you, boy. You are probably just some poor orphan boy trying to woo this nice little lady here and get some fancy kisses from her fancy lips. I have seen your type; you've grown up on the streets and are no smarter for it. Don't you know when you are beat?" The man sneered. Kol did not answer so he went on. "You know, I think I could use a guy like you in my party. If you join with me as my lackey I won't hurt you…much. I don't make no promises for that girl though."

The men laughed at their leader's remark and he turned to laugh with them. Then in a strike as quick as a snake he turned and swiped his knife at Kol. I screamed as the blade sliced through Kol's upper arm. It would have been worse but he had been able to dodge the attack enough so the blade missed his heart. Faster than I thought possible Kol turned his deflection into an attack and twisted the man's arm cruelly so that he dropped the knife. The rest of the group tensed for attack but paused. Kol was reaching up with the hand that wasn't holding the leader down. I heard the ripping of fabric as it seemed Kol pulled away his shirt and exposed the skin of his chest. For some reason this made the men's eyes go wide and they all backed away.

"I know your faces now and none of you will escape. You have broken my laws and you _will _suffer." Kol threatened. Now it was him that I was afraid of. What had he done? Confusion mixed with my fear in a chaotic swirl of emotions. The leader was shouting for his men to attack but none of them dared take a step.

Kol threw away the man harshly. He turned to look up at Kol from the ground. He ready for another fight, but when he looked up his eyes went as wide as his men's and he scuffled backwards. "I-I'm sorry, sir. I did not know it was you. Honest, I didn't. I swear, please sir. Mercy, please, have mercy." He pleaded.

I stayed frozen where I was behind Kol. What was he that he had these rough men quavering?

"Run," Kol quietly commanded, his voice dripping menace. In moments we were the only two left and the men were gone.

He turned to me and I watched as his face softened and he looked more like the Kol I had met in the bell tower, but I was still wary and did not move from where I stood. When he turned completely around I could see what must have scared the men away. Kol had pulled down his shirt to expose an intricate tattoo on the right side of his chest. It was tree branches covered in spider webs all in the circle of a crescent moon. As soon as I glimpsed the black lines, Kol readjusted his shirt to hide them. One of his sleeves was bloody from where the blade had cut his arm.

"Are you hurt?" He asked me gently. He looked as if he were about to reach for me, but thought better of it. "I'm sorry, Ebb. I didn't know we would come here. I should have thought before leading you away from the cart. I'm so, so sorry."

"Who are you?" I whispered quietly. "Am I still in danger?"

He looked hurt and his face looked resigned. It was such a different expression than the one he wore but a few moments ago. "Ebb, I'm not…I didn't mean to…I'm not going to hurt you."

"Take me back."

"Ebb…" He tried to find the words but I didn't care anymore. I just wanted to get away from this place and back to open spaces filled with people where it was safe.

"Now," I snapped.

The walk back through the winding alleys seemed longer than it had been when we were running. My lungs still burned and my legs still shook. He didn't try and talk to me, or I to him. My mind was swirling with what just happened and I couldn't make sense of any of it. If he could make them turn and run with so little effort, why did we have to run? What did his tattoo mean? Why did the mere sight of it terrify eight grown men? Where did Kol learn to fight so deftly? Was he more dangerous than the bad men who chased us? Who was he?

"Your tattoo," I began, breaking the heavy silence. I did not finish the question in hopes that he would explain.

"It's something I got two years ago. It's a symbol that's well known in the lower city." His explanation explained very little and did nothing to answer any of the questions that were circling in my head.

"But what does it mean?" I pressed. "Those men ran from you when they saw it."

Kol absently scratched where the tattoo was beneath his shirt. "I wasn't sure if they would, to be honest. I only wanted to use it as a last resort since I wasn't sure they would get the message when they saw it."

"What message?" I persisted. I could not imagine what message could make people turn and flee.

"There's the cart." Kol said pointing. Tim was there waiting for us and Kol was avoiding my questions. "I will take you straight back to the square if you like or I can escort you back to where ever you are staying. Are you sure you are not hurt?"

I shook my head. Tim glanced at us when we rounded the corner again and waited while Kol helped me up onto the cart. He was extra careful with me now, as if he were dealing with something made of delicate glass. Once we were both seated on the back of the hay cart, Tim clucked his tongue and prodded the horse into motion.

Kol did not take his eyes off of me as we rolled along. It was as if he was waiting for me to break at any moment. I was still jittery from the sheer terror that I had felt but I was trying to control my fluttering heart. I was also trying to decide whether or not I was truly safe now. What just happened had thrown into sharp relief how little I knew the man sitting across from me.

* * *

So this was my first attempt ever at writing a decent chase scene. I don't really know how to write action scenes, but I think I did alright. This chapter probably did not go how anyone was expecting and may have been a bit of a shock, but there it is.


	35. Returned

"You're safe now, Ebb." Kol said gently as we bounced along the cobblestone streets.

"Am I?" I scoffed. Based on what I had seen, Kol was the scariest thing in the city.

Kol sighed and his shoulders slumped as he leaned back against the side of the cart. "I promise I'm not going to hurt you. Once we return to the square you can leave and never see me again if you wish. It seems I only put you in danger anyway." He mumbled the last line and I almost didn't hear him.

"But you did save my life twice." I slowly stated. It was all so confusing. Why shouldn't I be afraid of him if other people so obviously were? What made me different? I was no street thug that was for sure; maybe Kol was just a threat to bad people. I dismissed that thought quickly as the only people thugs feared were the even more powerful brutes that roamed their streets.

"So you will stop being afraid of me?" The familiar smirk pulled at the corners of Kol's mouth.

"Will you tell me why those men were so afraid of you?" I countered. "And what that tattoo means?"

Kol took a deep breath. "Only if you promise you won't be afraid after I tell you." He continued slowly after I nodded. "Well, I am sort of the leader of the largest gang in the lower city, so to speak. The tattoo is a symbol of my rank. No one dares threaten one of mine directly in the lower city; you could say we have a reputation. We were lucky that those men still recognized the mark. I wasn't sure they would since we were only just inside the lower city."

I knew my eyes must have been wide and my mouth was hanging open dumbly. I quickly snapped my jaw closed and shook my head. It wasn't possible. Kol couldn't be one of the most dangerous mobsters in the city, he just couldn't be. He was the odd man who came up to a bell tower to look at some fireworks. I nearly couldn't believe it, but then I remembered the look in his black eyes when he was faced with the men in the alley ways. With a face like that it was no wonder he was feared, especially if he had the malice to back it up.

"Ebb?" Kol asked softly when I didn't say anything. His face was so different now and there was not a hint of the dark look anywhere in his features. Now his face was full of playful mischief as it was when I first met him.

We had arrived back in the square and Tim had stopped the cart and had jumped down from his perch. There were still people playing games and children running about. Nothing had changed in the square and it almost seemed that I had never left. I stepped down from the cart and Kol was quick to follow. "I understand if you never want to see me again, Ebb. I should have never taken you into the streets that close to the lower city. However, I would like to make amends for not taking you to see Tibbar the Magnificent. Unfortunately, that was his only public show this month, but there are other places in the city to see wonderful things. We don't even have to leave the upper city. I know a small fishing pond very near here where I could take you." I considered the idea and did not answer so Kol continued. "I will be here in this square in three days time. If you do not come then I will not take it personally. If you do, I promise to make sure that you are not put in any life threatening situations again."

Kol wished me a pleasant day before taking his leave. I shook my head in an attempt to clear my muddled thoughts. He did not hang about for which I was grateful. I did not know what to think of him. Of course I would not meet him in the square in three days – most definitely not. He admitted to being a criminal and a dangerous one at that. Who knew what might happen to me if I hung about with him.

By the time I returned to the Gilded Leopard, I had done my best to push today's events from my mind. I wished to do nothing more than just take a nice relaxing bath, but there were two obstacles in my path and they had a lot of questions about where I had been.

"Where were you all day, Ebony? It is nearly four past noon." Victoria said as soon as I walked through the door. It was as if she were waiting for me.

Upon hearing me enter, Giselle was quick to exit her room. She had one of the girls from the ball with her. "Were you with the prince?" She demanded.

The very last thing I wanted to do was tell them where I had been and what had happened. It would give them the perfect excuse to send me back home immediately. Giselle would like nothing better than to see me sent as far away from Christian as possible and Victoria had already threatened with sending me home once already. I did not need to give them any more reasons to get rid of me. So I shrugged and answered vaguely about being out in the town.

"Do not lie to us, Ebony. You are our little sister and we are supposed to know where you are at all times. Now tell me exactly what have you been doing." Victoria closed her book and focused all her attention on me.

The girl with Giselle leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Giselle listened and then nodded. They both wore sly grins as they turned back to face me. "Tabitha says that you can't have been with Prince Christian looking like that. You look simply dreadful. Your hair is all in dirty knots and those clothes you are wearing make you look even more oddly shaped than usual. You weren't with him were you?"

To avoid further insults from the three of them, I ignored Giselle's question and instead responded, "I am going to take a bath now."

They stared at me in shock for my impertinent response, but after the day I had not even my stepsisters could faze me. Giselle's mouth was hanging open rather foolishly as I gathered my things and retired to the washroom.

Through the door I could hear Giselle's not so quiet whispering. "That proves it; she was with Christian and is lying directly to our faces about it. We have to do something about her, Tori. She does not deserve my prince but he is foolishly spending too much time with her. I had thought we were growing closer together over the months we were at the castle, but it seems that the start of the celebration has addled his mind. Please, Tori, can't we do something?"

"She is a vicious snake of a girl if ever I saw one." I heard Tabitha say. I clenched my jaw and tried to remain calm at her unnecessary and unfounded statement. Who was she to judge me? I had never spent more than a few minutes in her presence and we had never uttered a word to each other. I focused on preparing for my bath.

I tried not to listen, but my ears would not take heed of what my mind was telling them. "It seems that she may have spent her day with Christian, but we cannot do anything tonight. It is much too late and we must get plenty of rest if we are to attend the royal tournament tomorrow. Perhaps after seeing how the prince acts in her company we can better judge on what to do with her. Until then, I suggest you put it from your mind; all this worry will give you wrinkles." Victoria told her sister calmly.

"That is all well and good for you to say. You have already gotten your prince charming. Won't you help me get mine?" Giselle was complaining. "You are different now and are not as helpful as you once were. Can't you somehow forbid that beast from going with us to the tournament? Mother put you in charge for a reason."

I froze with my hand poised over the tap and listened with baited breath for Victoria's response. Even with today's events, I had not forgotten about seeing the royal tournament with Christian. They wouldn't dare keep me from it; especially when I had been personally invited by the prince himself. There was a moment of silence in which Tabitha took it upon herself to say that she was wholly in favor of separating me from Christian at the tournament.

"Dearest Elle, it pains me that you are so hurt by our wicked stepsister, but I am afraid that the only way to truly break her away from your prince is to challenge her head on. I have tried threatening her but the pig-headed girl is persistent. However, she is no match for your charm and beauty and tomorrow at the tournament, Christian is sure to see that you are the better match for him. I have no doubt that you will secure his affections quite quickly if you put Ebony from your mind and turn all your charms on the prince." Victoria's words floated to my ears and I turned the tap sharply so the water gushed forth into the tub and blocked out any further conversation.

So they thought that Giselle would so easily charm the prince and shut me out completely. I may not have been as skilled at flirting as Giselle but it was me the prince had sought out at the ball and me he had taken with him into the hall of pictures. Surely, all that meant something. If Giselle had grown as close to him as she had thought over their days preparing for the celebration it would have been her he was spending time with. I would make sure that she would not brush me aside so easily. Christian was my friend and I would not let her come between us.

* * *

Ugh, real life just gets in the way sometimes. I got into a good place with writing nearly a chapter a day and then life was just like nope and buried me in problems so I couldn't write as much as I would have liked. Therefore, updates will probably be coming slower at least for this next week...maybe all the way up to when my class is over and I don't have homework.

So if you guys haven't already noticed, I usually reply to reviews around the time I post the next chapter.


	36. Day One

The tournament grounds were crowded and noisy. People from all over the city had come to see the knights arrive and compete. Many of the people were wearing their favorite champion's colors and waving banners. A few even had sigils painted on their faces. Giselle, Victoria, and I were jostled as we walked through the enthusiastic crowd.

"How horrible this is." Giselle commented as she lifted her skirts to step over a dropped meat pie that was lying in her path. "I am so glad that we were invited to sit in the royal box away from this rabble."

The sound of hammers on anvils rang through the crowd as we passed near structures where muscle-bound men worked with metal in their forges. They were sharpening swords and pounding armor for their masters. There would be no competitions today as today was the first day and all the knights were introduced to the crowds. Men from all over the realm had come to compete for the princess's wedding tournament.

We entered the arena and the stands were already crawling with people who all seemed excited for the announcements to begin. Vendors were roaming through the masses trying to sell their tournament day wares. The arena was a large open field surrounded by the rows and rows of seating that rose up above the low wall that enclosed the area. The ground in the arena was well worn dirt from all the feet and hooves that had tramped there over the years. My stepsisters and I made our way through the people in the stands to the opposite side of the arena where the royal family already sat. Their box was extended straight out from the fifth row of the rising stands and had a perfect view of the length of the arena. Joslynn and Reginald sat near each other and were talking together. He held her hand in his as they looked out across the already bustling tournament grounds. Hector and his friend Sir Brockton were teasing Christian about something and the trio laughed merrily. The ambassadors from the other kingdoms sat in the box as well. Pandia, Pernyx, and Ojera were talking together and the couple from Darios was sitting silently side by side. Occasionally Avion would lean over and whisper in his wife's ear and she would smile. The king and his queen sat on wooden thrones in the very center of the platform. Very near to the kings left were his two youngest children who looked not at all pleased with being there. Clover and Curtis both sat rigidly in their seats and were not speaking. It seemed they were still being punished for their antics at the ball. While they had to attend the tournament, their father was making sure they stayed near him and stayed out of trouble. No doubt he had told the others to not speak to them and make the day more enjoyable for the two.

We arrived at the box and were greeted by the three eldest royal siblings. Hector immediately stood and ushered Victoria to her seat beside him and Brockton. Christian stood to welcome Giselle and I. Aggressively, Giselle pushed me back as she stepped in front of me and took Christians arm and let him lead her to where we would be seated. Christian turned and beckoned for me to follow with a smile and a tilt of his head. I smiled back at him and sat on his other side. It was a warm day; if I was lucky Giselle would become too uncomfortable and leave.

As we were settling into our seats, the crowds of people were doing the same. We had arrived just in time for the very beginning of the tournament. Men on decorated horses in shining armor were being led into the arena by boys holding their banners. Christian was already on the edge of his seat in anticipation. He looked gorgeous as he leaned forward and provided a good view of his square jaw and broad shoulders. I smiled at how handsome he was then I noticed that a hand was resting on his other shoulder. Giselle was leaning towards him to whisper something in his ear. To my joy, he paid little attention as the knights on horseback started prancing around the stadium majestically.

"So, Christian, which knights are your favorites?" I asked. Giselle scowled at me as my remark earned me more attention than her had.

Christian beamed at me and sat back in his seat so he could explain. "That one there, in the red and white checks with the swan on his banner. That is Sir Merryton. He is a knight from the northern territories and has a mean swing of his sword. He is nearly undefeated and is a favorite to win in the sword. But I think that the one there is going to win. He is a younger knight and has not been in as many fights as the others but I have seen him fight before and he is swift and decisive in his strikes." He pointed to a man in silver armor on a noble white horse. He looked the picture of a knight in shining armor. From my place I could see that he was very handsome and commanding the attention of the females in the audience as he waved and smiled.

Christian put his hand on mine to bring my attention back to him. He pointed out another man in polished black armor on a massive black charger. "There, do you see him? He is in the joust. You can tell by the large horses they ride. He goes by the name of Komferrance. I have had the pleasure of seeing him compete only twice, but he is a wonder to watch. He has never been unseated from his horse and runs down the lists like a charging lion. I think he will be the winner of the joust and easily destroy all his competition."

The prince was very enthusiastic in his explanation of the knights who were circling the stadium. Another man in dark armor and a riding a large horse entered the stadium. "While Komferrance is a mighty opponent, if anyone could beat him, it is that knight there. Sir Ulric is a fierce competitor, but the two have never gone up against each other. This joust will be the first time the two are pitted against each other and promises to be a great battle. Oh, look, see now here the archers are coming."

The archers were not on horseback like the men of the joust. They walked into the arena with their bows in hand. They were waving at the screaming crowds. Everyone was cheering for their favorites and waving their banners and flags wildly. I looked down and where Christian still rested his hand on mine and smiled happily. "I have always loved the archery competitions. I always wished to be good at archery, but my talents lied elsewhere in the sword. I am glad that the archers compete tomorrow and am excited to watch. Byron Galway is here. I admire his proficient skill with a bow and arrows. He is my favorite to win and I have placed a few bets on him doing favorably. There he is."

Christian pointed at an older many with graying hair as he stepped into the arena behind the other archers. Thinking of archery, I was reminded of how talented Empress Pandia was and wondered how she would fare in the tournament if she were to compete. I did not doubt she would do well. I turned to look back at her where she sat with Ojera and Pernyx. She tilted her head in my direction in acknowledgement and I did the same. Christian had gone back to intently watching the field. Giselle was once again leaning to immerse him in conversation.

"You said that archery is tomorrow," I said quickly before she could open her mouth. At the mention of his favorite sport, Christian turned back to me. "What days do the other events occur on?" It was obvious that he liked talking about the tournament and I was happy to oblige him. I had never been to one before so having him there to explain it to me was a welcome conversation. And if it was a conversation that left Giselle out, well then it was all the better.

"There are four days in which the tournament will take place – two this week and two the next. Today is the first day and is when all the men arrive and are announced. Mostly it is for people to speculate and discuss each man's chances of winning. Tomorrow is when the archery and sword fighting will take place. It is my favorite day as those are my two favorite games besides the joust which takes place on the last day along with the awards ceremony. The third day is when the ax and javelin throwing competitions are held. The men in those are entering now. The joust is the biggest and most important competition of the tournament and the victors there are more important than those in the other competitions."

"Do some men participate in two competitions then?" I was remembering what he said about the knight that was in both joust and sword fighting. I wanted him to keep explaining things to me as I was enjoying our conversation.

Christian nodded, but before he could answer someone else interrupted and squeezed himself in between Christian and Giselle. "Hello, cousin," Dewey said before turning to a mortified Giselle. "I apologize for being late, but mother took longer than expected to get ready. Miss Giselle, what a pleasant surprise this is to see you here. I searched for you at the ball after you went to visit with your old friend, but could not find you. I was dearly hoping to dance with you by the end of the night; unfortunately our night was cut short by my younger cousins who have not yet learned the proper way to behave in society. I am sure that they did not mean any real harm and are now most remorseful for their actions. I noticed them sitting by his majesty in silence. They are no doubt contemplating their indiscretion and are thinking on ways to better themselves in the future. Miss Giselle how are you enjoying the tournament so far? Would you care to tell me what I have missed so far? I'm sure you are a brilliant mind when it comes to tournaments and can fill me in on the tiny details that the casual viewer might miss."

I did little to hide my enjoyment as I looked at Giselle's reddening face. She was in a predicament if I ever saw one. Either she could stay and have Dewey talk her ears off or she could excuse herself. If she left, she would be leaving me with Christian which I knew she did not want. If she stayed, she would be forced to converse with Dewey. Either way I felt certain that she would not be interfering very much in my conversation with the prince.

Giselle floundered for a moment in her indecision of what to do. While I was watching her struggle, Christian had briefly greeted his cousin and went back to watching the events taking place on the field.

"Squire Dewey, I think you over estimate my knowledge of such things," Giselle began slowly.

That was all the encouragement for Dewey to launch into another one of his long winded speeches. "Miss Giselle," he said firmly. "You do not give yourself enough credit. You are a charming, beautiful, intelligent, smart, kind, lovely, wonderful, clever, pretty, friendly, nice, attractive, witty, special young woman and I will not have you talking about yourself in such demeaning terms. My mother always told me to think the best of myself and I would be my best self and now that is what I will tell you. You must think well of yourself to be all that you can be. I know that on occasion that can be difficult as the winds of despair blow through all our lives, but you should not let them weigh on you. I want you to always remember my words when you ever feel like you are not good at something. I believe that with your impeccable eye for detail and fast working logical skills that you have already picked up on the finer aspects of the tournament. Maybe your knowledge is unknown to you, but I am here to help you though this struggle. Perhaps if you were to know the terms that are used in tournament times then you would realize how much you have already observed. The men holding the wooden poles with strings attached to them are called archers and the men on horseback are the knights. The knights generally compete in the joust and the long thin tubes that hang on the men's belts are called swords."

Giselle clutched at her skirts to keep from slapping Dewey for getting between her and the prince and prattling on about such idiotic things. "Dewitt," she gritted out. "I am aware of what a sword is."

In his apparent excitement, Dewey clasped Giselle's hand in his before she quickly pulled away. "Oh, Miss Giselle, I knew you were a smart woman. Most young ladies are not knowledgeable in weaponry as their senses are too delicate for the art of combat, but I see that you are not one of those women. You are a fantastic young woman who has acquired knowledge where her peers have not. I commend you!"

I thought that it was I and not Giselle who may have to excuse myself. Their mostly one sided conversation had me clutching my waist in an attempt to not roll about laughing uproariously. If Giselle chose to stay, it would be a long day for her indeed.

* * *

So much for slower updates...

If any of you caught it I would like to apologize for the absurdity, but the pun was just too good to resist.


	37. Leaving the Arena

Once all the competitors had entered the field and been announced the first day of the tournament came to a close. Just before everyone moved to leave the man who was doing the announcing informed the masses of the tournament's schedule and where to find the challenge board. Giselle had opted to stay near Christian and me and consequently was forced to listen to Dewey as he talked endlessly. His occupation with Giselle had given me plenty of room to converse freely about the tournament with Christian. He talked to me about many of the men who circled the arena and who was the favorite to win such and such competitions. It was much more information that I would ever care to know and I mixed up most of the names he gave me, but it was nice seeing Christian talk about something he enjoyed.

"You will come to the tournament tomorrow, won't you?" He asked as the last of the men left the arena the way they came in.

I felt a flush of happiness at Christian's earnest inquiry. Of course I would come and watch the tournament with him. I told him as much. Not even my stepsisters would be able to keep me away, no matter how hard they tried. There was no doubt that Giselle would be furious when we returned to the inn and would most likely find some way to blame me for having to converse with Dewey. I wasn't looking forward to the confined ride in the carriage with Giselle, but I didn't think that there was much that could darken my mood today.

Christian smiled at my enthusiastic response and took my arm to lead me out of the royal box. I noticed that Hector had taken Victoria's and was doing the same. Nearby, Dewey was trying to follow suit with Giselle, but she was having none of it. While the rest of the occupants leisurely ambled out into the stands, Giselle picked up her skirts and went as fast as decency allowed to escape the charming Squire Dewitt. "It looks like Giselle is very eager to leave." I commented to Christian.

"Dewey will be so disappointed. There he goes now, chasing after her. I think he is quite taken with her. When he is around, he talks of nothing else."

I could imagine. The few times Dewey had been with Giselle he was doing all but stitching himself to her side. If she were anyone else, I might feel sorry for Giselle. As it was, I couldn't muster up any feeling but amusement at her unfortunate admirer. He was now scuttling to catch up with her as she tried to escape him.

"Tomorrow the official tournament begins. It is all rather exciting. The tournament is my favorite part of any celebration and this specific one promises to be bigger and better than anything I have ever seen before. My sister does love to make things as extravagant as possible." Christian commented as we walked through the stands.

All too soon we were nearing the exit of the arena and we would have to part ways. Christian was telling me about other tournaments he had seen and a few he had even been a part of. While he was explaining a particular sword fight he had been part of, a pair of giggling girls sidled up next to him. The first one, a petite red head, giggled behind her hand before asking, "You're Prince Christian, aren't you?"

The other girl who looked as if she could be the first's sister, smiled at Christian between giggles. Both seemed to be around fifteen years old. Christian stopped to talk to the silly pair. "Yes, I am Prince Christian." He declared proudly.

Both continued giggling while one swayed as if to faint before grabbing her friend's arm and steadying herself. "I can't believe that we get to meet you. I'm Marissa and this is my sister Clarissa. We both think that you are the most handsome of your family."

There was a trace of smugness in Christian's smile when he thanked them. I felt the corners of my own mouth pulling up at the two girls and how obviously enamored they were. Clarissa, or maybe it was Marissa, whispered something in her sister's ear. "Are you going to be attending the tournament tomorrow, your highness? My sister wanted me to ask you. She also wants to know if we would be seeing you then as well. I know being a handsome prince is a demanding job and you probably have other things that you need to do, but it would be amazing if we could maybe see you tomorrow as well."

The entire time she was speaking, the girl's face was getting redder and redder. Her sister was still giggling away beside her. Prince Christian was gracious though when he replied to their questions. "You are very right. My father, the king, wishes me to be at his side during the tournament. My sister, Princess Joslynn is also determined to keep me with her as well. She wants the royal family to sit in the box to watch the games. However, I will do my best to look for you two lovely ladies tomorrow." With a wink he motioned for us to continue our path out.

As we departed I glanced back and saw one of the girls put a hand to her forehead dramatically and swoon. Her sister was barely containing her excitement and was bouncing around her sister. "You make quite the impression on the woman, your highness." I joked.

Christian grinned. "I am their handsome prince after all. Who am I to deny them the chance at my company?"

I laughed. "And you are very humble too, I see."

When we arrived at where the carriage waited, I could see that my stepsisters had beaten us there. Dewey had caught up with Giselle and was dramatically gesturing as he talked to her. Hector and Sir Brockton where still with Victoria and they were talking together merrily. As soon as Christian and I approached, Giselle spun around to greet us. "Ebony, what took you so long? We are pressed for time and I don't need you dawdling about."

I rolled my eyes. She only wanted to escape Dewey. Christian however took it upon himself to apologize for my alleged lateness. "Forgive me; it was I the detained Miss Ebony. You see, we were detained by two fawning lasses who wanted a word with their prince."

Suddenly, Giselle was all charm and flirtatiousness, "Oh, Christian, I am sure that it was not your fault. It is the job of a benevolent leader to speak to any of his subjects who wish to speak with them."

Upon hearing Giselle speak more than a few syllables, Dewey seized his opportunity to start up a conversation with her. As soon as the first few words left his mouth, Giselle grabbed my wrist and Victoria's and all but threw us into the carriage. "I am terribly sorry, but we really must dash." She said just before climbing into the carriage after us. She quickly slammed the carriage door to cut off anything Dewey said in farewell.

"Enjoy your day then, Giselle?" I asked, barely able to control my laughter.

Giselle glared at me, "Don't you even start, Ebony. If Dewey is there tomorrow, I can assure you that I will convince him to follow you around all the blasted day and see how you like it."

"You could have waited a few more moments to whisk us away though, Elle. Hector was telling me about a most wonderful bistro in the North End." Victoria said calmly.

Giselle slumped back in her seat and sighed. "I am sorry, Tori, but if I had to spend another moment with that annoying squire I was sure I was going to throttle him to stop his endless chatter. He is so stupid. It's like he can't even tell that he annoys me to death. For some reason he thinks I like him in the same way he likes me. I don't even like him at all. If he wasn't Christian's cousin I would be free to tell him what I really thought of him. Did you hear what he said to me? On and on and on and on about how I was a lady and therefore didn't know the simplest things. He actually tried to explain to me what a sword was at one point. Then he went on in great detail about the number of swords he has at home. Did you know he has three whole swords of his very own? I didn't either and I didn't want to know. Did that stop Dewey from telling me every scrap of information about them? Of course it didn't."

The entire ride back to the inn and for an hour after, I could hear Giselle complaining endlessly about Dewey. Victoria was listening to every word her sister said, gasping at the appropriate moments, and trying her best to console Giselle. I found it ironic that Giselle was angry about how much Dewey talked when she had hardly stopped yammering in nearly two hours. She might not think to take her anger out on me if I was not near her. I went out onto the balcony where her rant could not be heard as well and read my brother's letter again. Andrew was coming to Pharyss and I had just spent the day with Christian. It almost made me forget about the horrible chase through the back streets only the night before. I shook my head; I did not need to be thinking about such unhappy thoughts on such a good day. I pushed those thoughts from my mind and went over everything that had happened today with the prince instead.

* * *

So there you are, a day off work and I write two (so far) chapters. I will post this and then return to writing because I am at a good point.


	38. Archery

The following day the tournament grounds were even more boisterous and crowded than the first day; a feat I had not thought possible. It seemed that all the people in Pharyss had come out for the first official day of the tournament games. The blacksmiths were still in their forges, however today many were sharpening swords and arrows. In the colorful tents that housed the competitors I could see men getting ready. Some were being strapped into armor by their pages in preparation for the sword fights. The archers wore a variety of outfits from armor to thick leather to normal peasant clothes and were carefully selecting their arrows. My stepsisters and I passed through them all. Giselle and Victoria were more intent on getting to where the royal family was sure to be waiting so they paid little attention to what was going on around them. I wanted to see everything there was to see here for I had never been to a tournament before. The only appeal of the tournaments for my stepsisters was the two men we could now see through the crowds of people in the stands.

As we climbed the few steps that led up to the royal box, I noticed two familiar giggling faces. The two girls from the previous day were hunched together near the box, no doubt trying to get Christian's attention. I smiled at their silliness. It seemed that most of the ambassadors that had occupied the box previously were not present today. The couple from Darios was gone along with Pernyx and Reginald's sister. I noticed two other faces were also missing when Christian rushed to guide me to where we would sit in the very front of the box. "Ebony, you are here. I was starting to think that you would miss the beginning of the archery contest."

"I don't want to miss any part of the tournament," I said as I sat down. "I see that your younger brother and sister seemed to have been freed from their punishment."

Christian glanced at where there were now two empty seats by his father. "Yes, father decided that they suffered enough yesterday by having to sit quietly and the day before when they had to miss going to Etvor. They are around here somewhere with that annoying son of Captain Rydell. The three of them get on rather well despite his sour disposition. I am just thankful the three of them are not here causing trouble. I wouldn't want them to ruin your day."

I ducked my head when I felt a deep blush cover my face. Christian was so wonderful. "I'm sure there is little that could be done to ruin my day."

Christian smiled. He turned back to look where people were setting up large straw targets in the arena. Soon the first group of archers would come and take their places. I saw the archer Christian favored enter the arena with a few other archers in his lineup. It seemed that they would be going first. Despite being competitors, the men were laughing and joking together. The prince saw them as well, "Look there, Byron Galway enters with Lord Jory, George Naller, and the Haddy twins. The twins are new to formal competition, but Lord Jory is their uncle. Byron, Jory, and George have been in many other archery contests together and are now good friends. I think with a bit more training from those three, the twins will be formidable archers later on in life."

"They don't let the competitions get in the way of their friendship?" I asked. The three older men seemed to be teasing the two younger ones as they checked their quivers and bows.

Christian shook his head. "No, it is strange for many in the same games to feel anything but competition for others in their event, but for those three it is all like a big game. I have heard that they even bet on each other to win and celebrate afterwards no matter the outcome."

"Ladies and gentlemen," A short man in a royal tabard shouted from the center of the arena. The targets had been set up and the other archers had arrived and were standing on their marks. They all looked focused on the targets that sat across from them already. "The archery competition is about to commence!"

The man waited for the roar of cheers and shouts died done somewhat before continuing. "There will be three separate groups of archers to start in a randomly-seeded double-elimination scoring process with the last two standing facing off on the final day of the tournament to determine the grand champion of the bow. Archers take your marks!"

The archers drew their bows and took aim. I did not understand what the man had said about how the competition would be carried out and I turned, hoping that Christian would explain it to me. I was surprised to see him standing at the very edge of the box and leaning over the railing. He was shouting encouragement and critiques at the archers. He was not the only one who was shouting. His elder brother and Sir Brockton were also jovially calling to the men in the arena along with many people in the crowds around us.

"Aim true, Galway!" Christian called. "Fix your stance Lord Barrymore; you couldn't hit the ground if you tried holding your bow like that!"

"Be sure to hit the target, Ellison, I've got three silver coins on you!" Brockton called.

"Miss, Ellison!" Hector countered his friend. "Close your eyes and spin 'round. I have three silver coins that you miss!"

I heard Victoria laugh at the pair's playful banter. Christian seemed to be more focused on the archers as they loosed their arrows at their targets.

"Yes!" Christian hissed as he raised his arms in the air. Byron Galway looked to have hit a near bull's eye. "Barrymore, you fool! You didn't even hit the target."

"Aha," Brockton shouted happily at Hector. "That's three silver coins, if you please."

"That cannot be considered a hit; the arrow is barely even in the outer ring." Hector argued. "Brother, tell Brock here that Ellison did not technically hit the target and therefore his shot should be considered a miss."

Christian turned to look at his brother. "The arrow is embedded in the target, so I would say it is a hit. It is not a very good hit, but a hit nonetheless. It looks like you are out three silvers, Hector. Perhaps next time you might actually bet on someone who wins instead of putting money on the losers. See there, Byron has done better than almost all the others. That's at least four silvers in my pocket when the day is done."

Hector waved his hand in his brother's direction as he dug into a coin purse and pulled out the coins. "You are no help at all. I don't bet with the masses like you do, Ian. Placing bets with Brock is enough for me. I'm sure I'll win the next one."

"Will not," Brockton snatched the coins from Hector's out stretched hand triumphantly. Christian went back to watching as the group of archer's took their places and the arrows were removed from the targets. The archers had taken a second shot while I was watching Brockton and Hector. Two men had been eliminated from the first group and now the archers that took their place raised their bows.

"The boys really like their games, do they not?" I heard Empress Pandia say as she took a seat next to me.

I turned to face her. Ojera and Giselle were both with the princess and her fiancé. "They do seem rather invested in it." I agreed.

Pandia laughed. "That is a kind way of putting it. Hector and that Brockton are such children when they attend tournaments. I have only attended one or two other tournaments with them but they were just the same. They place bets on the silliest of things. I believe they have a bet today that someone in the fourth round of competitions will be wearing a blue scarf and he will hit the third ring of the target. I do not have any idea where they come up with these outlandish things. Christian is also very fond of the competitions."

"Oh, yes, archery is his favorite. He is hoping for Byron Galway to win." I explained to Pandia. "I'm sure that if you were competing that those men would have a tougher time winning."

She smiled, showing the sharp pointed canines in her mouth. "It would be unfair to pit me against these mere men when I was trained by a master of the Mektous. No, I will let the men have their fun and not have their pride damaged by losing to a female."

I laughed. I would have liked to see people's faces when they saw how easily Empress Pandia of Mekt trounced the archers in their own event. She would no doubt take her place among them wearing a very feminine gown to emphasize the contrast between her and the others. "Perhaps whoever wins will allow you a match to see if you could best him."

"I think I will keep my archery talents to myself outside of Mekt." Pandia winked. "Or if the men are getting to big headed and need to be put in their place like at the beach."

I nodded and turned back to watch the archers continue to take aim at their targets. After the third group of six took their two shots, I tried to make sense of the scoring system. I did not fully understand how the archers knew when they were to return to the fore. Pandia tried to explain it to me, but it all seemed terribly confusing even after her careful explanation. After the first round it seemed that the losers went up against each other separately from the winners. After the first three groups had gone, the losers from those returned and took their places. The winners from the previous round follower the losers and so it would go: a group of the losing archers followed by a group of the ones who beat them. I decided to just watch for Christian's favorite and note his progress. So far he was doing well and was in the winning portion of the archers. Christian, Hector, and Sir Brockton called at the archers constantly. Sometimes even Victoria would shout some remark at the archers Hector and Brockton placed bets on. I talked with Pandia about what she thought of the tournament so far while everyone else watched the men fire their arrows again and again.

* * *

So about this archery contest- I spent a good fifteen minutes writing it all out on paper. The whole complicated thing is drawn out on paper with plenty of confusing squiggles and arrows. Let me tell you, organizing a tournament is hard.

I think I may be done writing for tonight. I don't want to be because the story is finally starting to get to the good part, or at least that is what I think. Alas, while having a day off leads to all this in writing, I do not have another one until next week and every day I will think of little else other than this story. It has become quite addicting and thought consuming.


	39. Sword Fighting

Giselle had stayed with Joslynn, yet I could still feel her furious eyes on me from time to time. I decided to ignore her because I was the one the prince was talking to so I wasn't going to worry about her. By the time the two winning archers were determined it was after midday. Christian's Byron Galway was one of the two which made Christian raise his arms and shout in triumph. Hector and Brockton placed bets on each round and by the end Brockton owed Hector ten copper coins and a chicken. Victoria had spent her time laughing at their antics and giving them new and more ridiculous things to bet on. She seemed to be having fun with the two men and I caught Giselle glaring at her own sister more than a few times. Giselle did not like that her sister had something she did not. I enjoyed talking to Pandia, but I wished that Christian would sit down so I could talk to him some as well.

The announcer shouted the outcome of the day's archery contest while other men prepared the field for the sword fighting. People in the stands around the arena were getting up and moving about. The food and drink vendors were shouting over the masses and a few shouted back at them to pay for their wares. By the looks of things, there would be a break before the sword fighting Christian sat back down and explained again about how he knew that Byron would make it so far and would likely go on to win the tournament. I listened patiently before I asked him, "Perhaps you would like to take a walk around the tournament grounds. I would love to see what goes on outside the arena in a tournament."

"I can assure you that tournament grounds are no place for a lady such as yourself. They are dirty and stink of sweat and horse stench. It would be much better to stay here. The servants have even erected the awning so we get to sit in the shade out of the blazing heat of the day. They are sure to bring a cold luncheon to us at any moment. You must eat something. If we leave now, we will miss it." Christian explained. The servants had put up a sun shade a while ago at the request of the princess. It was cooler in the shade, but it did not diminish my want to see the rest of the area.

Perhaps Christian was right, however. He had been to more tournaments than I had and knew what he was talking about. I did not want to leave the comfort of the royal box if everywhere else was smelly and dirty. "Surely it can't be all bad outside of the arena." I coaxed. It would be wonderful to be escorted around by the prince himself.

Christian shook his head and smiled at me. I found that I rather liked his smile. "I don't want you to get hurt and the men can be a bit rough outside the area between the weapons and the big war horses. Maybe on the next day of the tournament we can go exploring."

I returned his smile and nodded. While we were talking, Pandia had stood and went over where Ojera, Joslynn, and Giselle were seated. I saw them talking together with Reginald, even though Giselle was not as chipper as the other three. I turned back to Christian and opened my mouth to speak when a shout made me nearly jump out of my chair. "I am here!" A woman yelled from behind where we were seated. "I am so very sorry that I could not have attended you all yesterday. My son tells me what a wonderful time you all had."

"Aunt Marge!" Joslynn excitedly called as she stood to give the woman a hug.

The woman was stout and rather garishly dressed. Her short stature was made all the wider by the red and green stripes that ran the length of her overly-frilly dress. The only part of the gown that wasn't striped was the massive puffed white sleeves and a broad sash that was tied jauntily at her hips. If her clothing weren't enough, her graying blond hair was piled very high on her head and covered in bows and strings of pearls. To add to the rainbow that was Aunt Marge, she also had bright blue over her eyes and very pink spots on her cheeks. Escorting the strange woman into the box was Dewey who immediately motioned to Giselle to come over and meet his mother.

"Careful, darling, you will smudge my make up." Marge batted her niece with a large yellow-feathered fan she held in one hand. Joslynn smiled but stepped away. "Dewitt, where is this charming creature you have told me about?"

Giselle had not moved from where she sat and was staring rigidly ahead. Dewey eagerly led his mother to Giselle. Now the attention of the people in the box and a crowd of people outside had all turned to watch the strange shouting woman. "Good gracious, child!" Marge exclaimed when Giselle stood up. "You are looking rather pale and sickly. Are you well? I should send a servant to get you some chicken head soup that should fix you right up."

"Thank you for your consideration, miss, but I think I should just return home and rest for the remainder of the day. I hope it will not be too much to ask for an escort home." Giselle smiled weakly. It seemed she was giving up early today.

"I will be happy to take you back to the Gilded Leopard, Miss Giselle!" Dewey was quick to volunteer.

Giselle shook her head and I began to wonder what she was up to. "You have just arrived, I would hate for you to miss the tournament. Perhaps Prince Christian would be so kind."

My eyes widened and I swallowed when Giselle turned toward Christian. She was crafty, but maybe Christian would refuse. He wouldn't want to miss any of the games either. "My dear, you are so kind to think of my boy in such a way!" Marge gushed. "You are absolutely right. Chrissy dear, come and escort this poor girl home. No, now don't give me that look, the tournament will still be here when you return. Now up, up, up!"

Christian grinned at me. "I suppose I will return in a bit." He stood and went to offer his arm to Giselle which she gladly took. I could nearly feel the waves of smugness that were coming from her. The king and queen also stood to greet Marge as did Hector. It seemed for all her oddities, she was still well liked in the family. Hector introduced his aunt to Sir Brockton and Victoria and she shook both of their hands enthusiastically.

"Come, mother, we can sit right here in the front." Dewey helped his mother down to the front row. Hector followed his aunt and took her other arm as she stepped down.

To my horror she was seated almost directly next to me. With Christian gone I suddenly felt out of place and wasn't sure what to do. I had hoped that I might be able to go unnoticed or maybe talk to Pandia until the prince returned. Marge had different plans. "You there, girl, who are you?" The woman said as soon as she was seated. "I saw you talking to my nephew."

I stood and gave her a small curtsy. "I am Ebony Valix. Christian is my friend and I am Giselle and Victoria's stepsister."

Marge batted her fan at me. "Sit down, Ebony, you don't need to be as formal as all that. I remember my son mentioning you a few times. You look nothing like either of your stepsisters. How did you come to meet my nephew?"

I sat back down. My brain was racing, trying to find things to say to this exuberant woman and not sound a complete fool. I told her the story of how our carriage had broken a wheel on the way to Pharyss and the royal carriage just happened by. She listened and quieted her son when he tried to interrupt. It seemed that with his mother there to shush him, Dewey did not talk nearly as much.

"And how are you enjoying your stay in Pharyss here so far?" Marge asked. She was so attentive that I felt talking to her was much easier than it was with most people. She simply listened to what I had to say with no judgment or boredom clouding her eyes as happens so often. I was too hasty in judging her on first sight. Once I was passed her exuberant way of dress and speaking, I found that she was a wonderfully pleasant person to converse with.

"It has been mostly wonderful, but scary at times." I told her as I remembered running for my life only a few days ago. I would not tell her about that though.

Marge clucked and fanned herself. "Miss Ebony, fear is a part of life and it is something to be faced and overcome. You must never be afraid to put your best foot forward no matter what is coming your way. If you do not then you may miss out on some wonderful things. That is the way I raised my son and I couldn't be more proud of him for being who he is." She pinched Dewey's cheek and he smiled.

"Isn't my mother wonderful?" He beamed. "People have often told me that the way I speak is bothersome and that I should stop, but mother always tells me that it is who I am to talk as much as I do and not to change one bit. So I let the unsavory remarks of others roll of my back like water off of a duck and continue on because it is just how I speak and I will not change myself to please someone who has faults of their own. Why one time I was at a tea party with mother and her friends and their families and this one woman…"

"Dewitt, while I love you just the way you are perhaps you can tell us this entire story later when there are not games to watch. Look, in comes the first two fighters." Marge commanded and pointed her fan at the armored me who had just entered.

To my surprise, Dewey stopped talking immediately and did not look as if he was going to launch into another speech anytime soon.

"Look at those men, that armor must be so heavy." Marge remarked. "I wonder what swords they are carrying. Blast it all, I know nothing about sword fighting. I cannot truly enjoy something if I do not understand it. Hector! Come here and explain to your old aunt what is going on!"

I turned to look at Hector. He was smiling broadly and quickly got up to sit near his aunt to explain what is going on. Victoria and Brockton followed him. "You aren't the only one who is hopeless in sword knowledge, auntie. Victoria here has never seen a sword fight in her life and poor Brock is the worst swords man I have ever fought."

"It is lucky that we have you here to explain it to us then," Marge exclaimed. "Do you like sword fighting, Miss Ebony?"

I shook my head. It seemed that having Marge around wasn't going to be bad at all. I rather enjoyed her company. I did not feel awkward and out of place anymore. "I can't say that I do, having never seen much of one before. Sword fighting isn't really a common practice in Lyscos. Hector will have to explain it to me as much as you."

"Well then, Hector darling, you have all of our attention," Marge exclaimed. "Now go on and educate us."

Hector explained what was going on as the two fighters began circling each other. It was much more enjoyable now that I understood what was going on more. The archers had been so dull and monotonous. After some time, Christian returned and his aunt had him help his brother explain things. Christian was more than happy to go into detail about each of the swordsmen as Hector explained their techniques. Both brothers seemed very knowledgeable about swordfights and the rest of us who did not know much at all kept up a steady stream of questions. We laughed and joked together as we watched and listened to the clang of swords. The time passed easily and before I knew it the sun was setting and the final two swordsmen were being announced.

* * *

Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!


	40. Cracks

The day ended and we all stood from our seats. Marge was helped up by Dewey and Hector. "I do so love tournaments," she proclaimed. "Watching those men batter away at each other with all you young people has made me feel young again. Victoria, Ebony, it was a pleasure meeting you both. You two should find me at the next ball and we shall talk again. Bring your other sister with you as well. My son would love to see her, wouldn't you, dear?"

Dewey launched into just how much he would love to see Giselle again with gusto. "My mother is a true treasure. She knows just how I feel. It is very considerate of you to think of me. Yes, Victoria, you must bring Miss Giselle to see me at the ball. We can tell her what fun she missed today so she won't feel completely desolate at having been ill and going home early. She can also meet mother. I'm sure the two will be fast friends. I sense that they are kindred spirits deep down and will become bosom companions. Then again, my mother can get along with anyone she meets and pleases everywhere she goes. I do so wish Giselle had been able to talk to her more. Perhaps, mother, we can invite Giselle to lunch sometime soon. She is such a pleasant girl and would agree in an instant, I am almost certain. We could go to that little bistro in the south end that you love so much. You were telling me before we arrived in Pharyss that you were longing to go there again. Mother loves the Tiny Teacup. It is decided. Victoria, when you return to the inn you should tell Giselle that we have invited her to lunch as soon as she is well enough to accept. I do hope she is feeling better soon for it is only a few days time until the second ball. How quickly the time passes when you are having a wonderful time!"

Marge patted her son's hand. "Darling, perhaps you judge this Miss Giselle too soon. Surely no woman could be as wonderful as you say. You wouldn't want her to feel inadequate to your suppositions."

I wondered if Marge knew how right she was in her assessment of Giselle. I believed Dewey to only see a beautiful face and ignore all the flaws hidden behind it. Nevertheless he was quick to defend her. "Of course not mother, Giselle is as kind and gentle a woman as I have ever met."

"Well, if she is anything like Victoria, then you have to watch out. This one is sneaky; she is always talking in circles and it confuses me most annoyingly." Hector joked. He knocked his shoulder playfully into Victoria's as he walked by. She smiled. Victoria had been out of character today, but only in the best of ways. She wasn't catty or aloof and joked with Sir Brockton and Hector easily. I had never seen her so laid back and friendly. I hoped that it was not just another act put on to impress the prince and that she truly was changing. Maybe the royal family was going to be a good influence on her.

We all parted ways at the entrance to the arena. The royal family disappeared into the crowd as we walked to where our carriage was waiting. Victoria did not say a word on the way back to the inn, so perhaps the royal family wasn't rubbing off on her that much. Her silence left me time to think about what Marge had said about fear. 'Fear is a part of life and it is something to be faced and overcome. You must never be afraid to put your best foot forward no matter what is coming your way. If you do not then you may miss out on some wonderful things.' The mishap with Kol had scared me but it had also been exciting. It would be a story to tell and all who hear it would be in awe. Andrew would definitely be impressed at what his little sister got up to before he arrived in Pharyss. It wasn't Kol's fault that we had been trapped; he had been the one to save us. That tattoo on his chest was a mystery. The image had been tickling the back of my brain ever so slightly and I had been trying to ignore it. I was always a sucker for a good mystery and Kol was as mysterious as they come. There were two vastly different sides to him and I wanted to know exactly who he was. I couldn't deny the constant whispered questions floating in my mind. Questions I knew I had to answer no matter my fear. Maybe Marge was right and by hiding away from the potential danger I was missing something wonderful and exciting.

Tomorrow was the day he said he would be waiting for me in the square. It wouldn't be too dangerous if we stayed in the upper city where it was crowded with people. I would be careful. One day, that's all I needed; then I would never have to see him again. Just one day, I reasoned, to see if he was the dangerous man from the alley or the playful thief from the streets. It was decided, I would go to that same square tomorrow and if he was there my curiosity would be sated and if he wasn't then it wasn't worth my time. I didn't realize, but I had nodded sharply when I came to my decision which earned me strange look from Victoria. I didn't explain for we had arrived at the inn and Victoria had exited the carriage almost before it had stopped moving. She must have wanted to talk to Giselle about her day or escape my presence.

It was late and the sun had just slipped beneath the horizon when I entered our room. Victoria had already taken off her dusty shoes and was removing her stockings when I closed the door. Giselle was already in her night clothes and sitting beside her sister on the three sided chair. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Tori. I am surprised that you have taken to that hideously dressed woman so easily." Giselle was saying.

"She's not all that bad, Elle," Victoria sighed. She looked worn out from her day laughing with the prince. "She even kept that Dewey from talking us all to death."

Giselle looked shocked that such a feat could be accomplished. "But he never stops talking! That boy could talk until the end of the world and still complain of having no one to listen to him. He could talk so much the fish would drown themselves and the mountains would crumble just to block out the noise. Tell me, Tori, did he seem to swell up at the amount of talking he wasn't doing? I imagine his face must have been very red with all the words he was no doubt holding in. If what you say is true, he must have almost died from not talking."

Victoria laughed at her sister's descriptions of Dewey and even I smiled a bit at her colorful picture of him. Giselle caught my grin and sharply turned to narrow her eyes at me. She was obviously not over the fact that I had spent two days with Christian and she hadn't. I doubted very much that she would ever completely get over it – one more thing to add to her long list of things she did not like about me. "And how was your day, Ebony?" She spat my name viciously.

I raised my eyebrows at her threatening behavior. If anything would get Giselle riled up was if a man she liked paid attention to any other girl. I just never thought I would be the other girl. Just to annoy her, I smiled sweetly and told her what a wonderful time I had with the prince.

"Do you honestly think he likes you? You're dumber than I thought. It doesn't matter anyway because tomorrow my sister and I are going out shopping with our friends. Do you have friends, Ebony? I don't remember seeing you acquainting yourself with anyone new other than that crazy old woman. You are such an obsessive trollop to just spend all your time plotting on how to ensnare the prince. I feel sorry for him that he even talks to you. You can't hide your scandalous ways for long, you know." Giselle griped. Her tone reeked of jealousy, even though she tried to sound pitying. "Come on, Tori. We should leave Ebony to her schemes."

I held my head high and watched the two of them flounce off to their rooms. I was done letting Giselle intimidate me. She was wrong and her only purpose was to make me doubt my friendship with the prince. It wasn't me who was plotting and scheming and she knew it. I hoped she wouldn't get any ideas in her head of ways to undermine me, but without Victoria she lacked the gumption to actually go through with anything. It had always been Victoria coming up with mean things to do and planning revenge on people they didn't like. Giselle had always been in the background assisting her sister. Victoria hadn't been her usual nasty self now that she was occupied with the prince. I went to bed and didn't worry any more about Giselle and her vendetta against me. Tomorrow I would be embarking on another adventure into Pharyss; I just hoped it wouldn't be as dangerous as the previous one.

* * *

New chapter (finally)! Yay! My goal is to spend all tomorrow writing so I can finally get to the part of the story that I have been waiting to write because it is so tantalizingly close now. It's only like four chapters away if I really rush things.

Well, okay, maybe that wouldn't be the best thing to reach it tomorrow because it seems I will be working A LOT next week and may not have much time for writing and a whole week away when I just got the the good part may drive me insane.

I don't know, I might face the insanity just so I can write what I've been waiting for even if it does take a few days.

Indecision.


	41. Master Angler

"Where do you think you are going dressed like that?" Victoria asked me the following morning.

I was wearing what I wore the last time I went out into the town: leather men's breeches and a billowy shirt. I made sure to tie my hair up securely in a braid which I pinned firmly to my head. I wasn't hoping that we would be attacked again, but it didn't hurt to be prepared if we had to run again. Just to annoy her I gave a vague one word answer, "Out."

"You're going out?" Victoria repeated. When I didn't elaborate she continued. "Are you going out with the prince again? Did you already forget the warning I gave you before? You have already spent too much time with him already and my patience is wearing thin."

She was being wholly unfair and I wasn't going to fall for it anymore. "Have the two of you ever considered that maybe Prince Christian actually likes being around me more than Giselle? He invited me to accompany him to the hall of mirrors and it was him who invited me to the tournaments."

As if she heard her name, Giselle appeared in the door way. I sighed. At this rate I would probably never be able to leave. Still, I didn't want to tell them where I was actually going. "What are you talking about?" Giselle asked as she looked between me and her sister. Her blonde hair was still up in curlers from the night and she had not yet changed out of her nightgown.

"Ebony is going to be spending the day with the prince." Victoria informed her sister.

Giselle's face turned an attractive shade of pink and I could see her jaw clench tightly. "Fine," She ground out slowly. "Have your day with the prince. Just know that you will be hard pressed to keep him. Already he has invited me to go to the menagerie with him tomorrow. How could you ever beat me?"

I wanted to rip those nice curlers off her head. She was being so nasty. Now I certainly wasn't going to tell her that I wasn't actually going to see the prince today. Let her think that I was spending my time with her prince. It would teach her that she can't have everything she wants. Instead of engaging them both in an argument, I muttered a goodbye and quickly left the room. I was glad that I had an excuse to go somewhere. I did not think I could take another minute of their condescension.

I was in a foul mood when I hurried down the steps of the inn. The sky above mirrored my feelings as it was gray and overcast. I walked quickly down the street with my arms folded over my chest, trying to calm down. Giselle and Victoria had bullied me my entire life but this time it was different somehow. Maybe it was that they were trying to ruin the entire trip for me and lock me in our hotel room. It could have been the fact that at every turn Giselle was there to make jabs at my self esteem by reminding me that she was the one who men usually desired. But most of all it was the fact that I couldn't help but feel she was right. I was angry and I reminded myself that she was just jealous, but it didn't stop the whispers of doubt that maybe, just maybe, she was right. What if Christian did fall in love with her beauty and charm? He had invited her to the zoo tomorrow. Maybe she had bonded with him in a way that I hadn't at the ball and then at Etvor, and yet he was so attentive to me at the tournament while she was being crowded by Dewey.

The conflicting thoughts circled in my head round and around so I didn't realize my feet had carried me all the way to the square. Due to my agitated pace, I arrived much sooner than I was expecting to. The square wasn't as crowed as it was a few days ago. The weather was no doubt keeping people indoors. If Giselle and Victoria were not there, I would have considered returning to the inn. With the fewer people crowding the space, the whole of the square was easier to see and seemed more ominous somehow. Abandoned booths dotted the square and the colorful ribbons blew in the breeze with no children to dance with them. I scanned the area for Kol and felt foolish just standing looking for someone who might not even be there. I couldn't see him anywhere in the square. I turned to leave and possibly explore other streets, but he was there behind me. It looked as if he had just come from one of the small stands lining the edge of the square. I must have missed him when I walked passed.

"You came." Kol stated. He sounded almost surprised. "You look more threatening than the clouds in the sky today. Should I be worried?"

"You are the gang leader or whatever it is you said you were. I should be the one afraid of you." I snapped. Immediately I regretted my harsh tone. It was not him that I was angry with today.

Kol didn't seem to mind though. He raised an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth pulled up playfully. "So you aren't afraid of me then; even though I am some big scary gang leader?"

"You can't be that scary of a leader. What was the place you told me about? A fishing pond, was it? That's not exactly the most threatening place." I joked. My bad mood was drifting away.

"Wait until we get there," Kol winked. "Come on this way."

The road we walked along lead towards the castle and away from the lower city. Kol was keeping his word about staying in the upper city. We were going in the opposite direction from the Gilded Leopard's street. We came to a road I recognized as one end of Lilac Avenue. We were a ways away from the Gilded Leopard but not so far it was out of walking distance. We passed Lilac Avenue and a few streets beyond was a narrow stream with a stone bridge wide enough for carts to pass over. The stream was about as wide as two carts if they were placed end to end. I asked Kol how there could be a stream such as this in the center of a city. He explained it was because the land was slightly lower in this part of the city so an underground river that flowed under the city was able to come above ground for a ways. I could see the pond that he mentioned from where we stood on the bridge. On the banks of the small river it looked as if someone had dug out a round hole for water to flow into making a small pond. Children were standing on the edges of the pond with wooden fishing rods. Carved wooden fish that were painted in bright colors floated on the surface of the water moved by the gentle current that the river made in the pool. The children were trying to get their fish hooks through the rings on top of the fish's heads. An old man sat near the river and whenever a fish was caught he would send another one floating into the pool.

Kol grinned at me and we went down to the edge of the pond. "This is a child's game. We are the oldest ones here." I pointed out. I felt the stares of the children as Kol handed me the small wooden fishing rod.

"Nonsense," Kol exclaimed. "Barnaby here is much older than both of us. Besides, why should children get to have all the fun?"

A child ran up to Barnaby and handed him the wooden fish. The old man smiled and took the fish. "And what did you find today, little one?"

"I finded a little dolly," The girl exclaimed. She held up a tiny doll in a pink dress.

Kol elbowed me lightly. I turned to look at him and he was smiling. "See, Ebb, you could win a little dolly. All the fish have some small treasure inside. All you have to do is catch one."

I laughed. He was so ridiculous. I decided that he must have been exaggerating his fearsome mobster status. "Fearsome gang leader, indeed," I pointed my fishing pole to the water. "Shall we go fishing then?"

Kol wrinkled his nose at me and we went to stand by the water's edge. The edges of the pond where shored up with bricks so we stood about half a foot above the water. Each fish was carved in different designs. I examined each one as they lazily floated by. Kol was doing the same. "You are an expert fisherwoman already, Ebb. Only the experts know that you have to wait for the best fish to come along and not settle for the mediocre ones."

I nodded in agreement at his solemn tone. "I think I see the one that I want – that one there." I pointed to a blue fish that had sharp teeth but big goofy eyes and looked similar to a shark.

"Are you sure you don't want that one?" Kol pointed to a round fish with eyelashes and a pink bow on its head.

I laughed at the overtly girly fish. "No, I think I will leave that one for you."

"Very well then," Kol fixed his expression into one of deep concentration and determination. He lowered his hook and worked to fit the point through the small ring on top of the pink fish. I laughed even harder and it was not long until my shark came around and I tried to catch it.

It was harder than it looked to get my fish hook into the ring. The line kept swinging the wrong way and even though the fish was moving slowly I still missed it and it floated on by. Kol caught his fish though and some of the children gave him a strange look when he pulled the bright pink fish from the pond. He reached into the fish's open mouth and pulled out a tiny sparkling ring. "Looks like I caught a whopper today!"

"The fish weren't biting for me." I sighed as I watched my shark floating around the pond again.

Kol handed the now empty fish to Barnaby who put another bauble into its mouth and released it back into the pond. "That's alright, it is coming back around."

My shark was left alone by most of the children who were also fishing. One small boy tried to catch it but it eluded him as well. Eventually it made its way back around and I readied myself to try and snag it. "Alright, this time try to hold your line steady in front of the fish so the ring just glides onto it instead of waving it around all over the place." Kol instructed. He demonstrated with his line and I noticed that he had slipped the tiny ring onto his pinkie finger where it barely went down to the second knuckle. I did as he said and this time I caught the fish even though it was a bit troublesome getting the hook to stay still.

"Ha," I blurted as the fish caught on my line. I pulled the bothersome thing out of the water and eagerly looked to see what my prize was. I pulled out a piece of taffy that was neatly parceled up in a colorful wrapper. I tore off the paper and put the sweet in my mouth, savoring what I had won.

"Well done, Ebb. You are now a master angler." Kol smirked. I returned his smile around the taffy I was chewing.

* * *

So much for writing all day. I've only finished one chapter, but it's still early yet!


	42. Breaking In

We spent a few more minutes catching the wooden fish. We left the prizes in most of them and put them back in the pond so the children would have a chance. I was getting better, but I still missed every couple of tries. Kol seemed to do it effortlessly and never missed a single fish. I tried to imitate what he was doing, but it was much harder than he made it seem. After awhile he even grew bored of catching his own fish and went after mine.

"Hey, that's not fair!" I griped as he swiped yet another fish that I was trying to snag.

Kol carelessly lifted the fish from the water and it swung slightly on his line. His lips were curled up into an impish grin and his black eyes sparkled. I was almost used to those strange black eyes by now. "All's fair in fish and fin, Ebb. Hasn't anyone ever told you that?"

"I seem to remember that line going a bit differently." With a roll of my eyes I selected another fish. There was less in the pond now. It seemed that Barnaby had stopped putting them back in the water. "It looks like we're almost done for the day."

The few children that were left around the pond were catching the last of the fish. Two floated by and while Kol hooked one I was able to get the other. Barnaby was taking the fish back from the children and putting them in a large canvas sack. Kol and I returned the fish we caught last as the children ran up the bank of the river and back to the road. I had not noticed how dark it had gotten.

"You two had better get going. Rain is coming. I can feel it in my elbows and my elbows never lie. You two hurry along now." The old man instructed. I glanced uncertainly at Kol, not sure if elbows provided the best report on the weather. Kol simply nodded at Barnaby and assured him that he would get indoors as soon as possible.

"Come on, we had better hurry and get back to the square. Barnaby's elbows never lie. We don't want to get caught in the middle of a storm." Kol said as he glanced around and then up at the sky. "The sky over the south of the city is already black."

He was right. Behind where we stood by the pond I could see angry black clouds quickly eating up the darkening sky. The first drops of rain fell before we even made it the short way to the bridge. A crack of thunder boomed over head and bolts of lightning raced along the clouds then the rain really started. It was so sudden that I stopped in my tracks and so heavy that I lost sight of Kol who was only a few feet away from me. I had never seen rain so violent. It took seconds for me to become soaked through and not much longer for me to start shivering in the wind driven rain. I squinted and looked for Kol where I had last seen him. He was there, closer now and approaching me to wrap his hand around my own. In this downpour it would be easy to get separated and I knew I could not find my way anywhere in this rain.

"We need to get back to the square!" I tried to shout over the deluge. Kol leaned his head towards me and I shouted again, this time near his ear so he was sure to hear.

Kol shook his head. He put his mouth close to my ear and spoke loud enough for me to hear. "It's too far. We need to get out of this rain now. I know a place. It isn't far from here."

I allowed Kol to lead me by the hand through streets I could barely see. Our feet splashed through puddles that were already inches deep. I hoped that Kol knew enough of the city to manage the roads in such a downpour. Surely, this heavy of rain couldn't last long and would let up some soon - at least enough to see through. More thunder crashed over head followed quickly by streaks of lightning that cast an eerie sort of glow through the heavy rain.

The rain thinned out just enough to see farther ahead where a black iron fence rose up threateningly around a large manor. Rain continued to pelt us as Kol led me quickly towards the fence. "We aren't going there are we? We can't that's someone's home." I still had to shout to be heard, but I could be heard without being right next to Kol's ear.

The large black gate bore the figure of a roaring lion's head made out of the twisting metal. The gate was bolted shut which didn't stop Kol from opening it and slipping through the bars. I stopped outside the gate. The threatening lion was meant to keep people out and I was not going to trespass on someone else's property, especially when the house itself looked so imposing. The manor was large and made of dark gray gray with a black shingled roof. Large twisted trees that were blowing wildly in the wind grew up around the yard adding to the house's sinister look.

"No, we can't go in there!" I said firmly.

"You need to get out of the rain, Ebb. You are already shivering out of your skin. I swear everything will be fine. Come on." Kol ordered and left little room for argument when a tug brought me onto the other side of the gate with him. The gate clanged shut behind me. I frowned at Kol's back as he pulled me towards the back of the house. This is what I get for wanting adventures and solving mysteries. Still, I wanted to get out of this place before Kol got us both arrested.

I pulled at his soaked shirt when he stopped underneath a balcony and looked up. "Please, let's just go. This is someone's house. What if they are home and they see us? I'm fine really."

Kol's black eyes looked directly into mine as his hand reached up to my chin to feel the chattering of my teeth. "We are too far away from anywhere else. No one is home, besides it's a big enough house they won't notice anyway. We both need to get out of the rain."

"How do you know no one is home?" I asked. I did not like his logic. Kol did not answer, but turned and gripped the climbing vines that grew up the side of the building next to the balcony. I clutched my arms over my chest and hunched my back against the rain, unsure of what to do. I couldn't follow him into a strange manor and I couldn't make it all the way back to the Gilded Leopard in this rain.

"Ebb, come on!" Kol shouted from where he now stood on the balcony.

I shook my head and backed away. There was an ear shattering bang and that threw me to the ground. All too near to where I stood a bolt of lightning struck one of the twisted trees. The trunk of the tree light up with the electricity and sparks flew outward. My scream was lost in the sound. I barely heard Kol scream my name from the balcony for the ringing in my ears. Without a thought I followed Kol up onto the balcony. My skin was tingling from the electricity in the air a one hand gripped the slick marble of the railing. Kol grabbed my wrist and helped me the rest of the way over.

"Are you hurt?" Kol demanded as he tightly gripped my shoulders.

"Why is it that I always get into dangerous situations around you?" I shouted. My heart was hammering and adrenaline was pounding through my limbs, but other than that I was fine.

Kol's lips lifted into a half smirk. "I don't think I can take credit for the weather, Ebb. Now come on, inside!"

With some difficulty Kol managed to pull the glass door open against the wind and we stepped into the room. It was someone's bedroom. A massive dark blue canopy bed stood on a raised platform on one side of the room near a huge white marble fireplace. Matching blue sofas sat a couple of yards in front of us around a table with a candelabra sat on it. Lavish tapestries in deep blues and blacks hung on the walls. There were three closed doors in between the tapestries: two on the far wall and one to the left. The floor was made of wood laid out in complex patterns under thick blue rugs. Whoever lived in this place must have been very wealthy to have such lavish things.

Kol walked further into the room. I just stood near the large window in awe of the room. "We should go." I whispered.

Kol had his hand on one of the door handles when he turned back to look at me. "Relax, Ebb. We're fine now and out of the storm."

I was about to argue his definition of 'fine' when I saw something move from the other side of the bed. Two lean black dogs with short tails and pointed ears had stalked out from where they were hidden on the other side of the bed. One wore a red collar while the other had blue. A sudden flash of lightning lit the room and the two dogs. They did not look friendly as they approached where I stood. Wide eyed, I watched as the one in the red collar had its lips pulled back in the beginnings of a growl. They both had their heads lowered and looked ready to pounce. I wish I hadn't followed Kol into this house.

* * *

This story has kind of taken a turn and is not going according to plan. It's taking on a life of its own now and the original plan is more of loose guidelines for now. I find it very exciting.

And here's a fun fact for you: the storm they are in now is the one from the beach at Etvor Cliffs. That's right I spent about fifteen minutes figuring out the speed of storms and how fast they could travel. According to the dimensions of the map I made and my research, it would take about three days - just in time for this little development.


	43. Nikolaus

"Caligo, Umbra, heel," Kol commanded. To my surprise both dogs stopped and turned to Kol. He hit his hand against his thigh and both dogs bounded over to him, their short stumps of tails wagging happily. Kol reached down and petted them both on the head. "I'm going to go and get something to dry off with and see if I can find dry clothes for you."

My eyes only widened as Kol opened the door and the two dogs trotted after him out into the hallway. How did he know how to control the dogs like that; unless they were his dogs? But that couldn't be. Kol wasn't some noble lord. He was a thief who roamed the streets of Pharyss and led some sort of well known group in the lower city. Realization hit me when I saw the mask hanging on the edge of a large vanity mirror, but I still didn't understand.

He returned with a pile of towels and what looked like clothes draped over the top. "I found something, but I don't know how well it will fit you." I tilted my head and examined him. In his dingy clothes and with wet hair he looked out of place. He must have known I had questions and he laid the towels down on the wooden table.

"Who are you?" I started with.

Kol swept into an elegant bow. I could still see the silly little ring on his pinkie finger as he made a flourish with his arm. "Nikolaus Caiden Rydell, only son of Jared Isaiah Rydell, captain of the king's guard."

He straightened and gauged my reaction with those black eyes. I did not know how to react. Kol – Nikolaus – was the one at the ball and he must have recognized me then but didn't say anything. He also used to be friends with the prince, but something had happened. Christian had said that he was arrogant and horrible to be around. Was that just another facet of himself that he was hiding?

"So you're insufferable," I mused. I did not know what else to say. The dogs had returned with him and were now coming over to sniff curiously at me.

Kol raised an eyebrow. It must not have been the response he was expecting. "Me? Insufferable? Where did you get that idea?"

I shrugged and looked away. "The prince may have mentioned something or other to that effect a few days ago when I went to the Etvor cliffs."

I caught the towel that Kol tossed to me. He picked up another and scrubbed at his head leaving his hair sticking up crazily. "Did he now? What did our good prince have to say about little old me?"

"Just that you had once skipped a council meeting and-" I wasn't sure if I should be telling him what Christian had said. Kol raised an eyebrow as he wiped at his neck. "He was glad you were not around at the beach or at the tournament." I said in a rush.

Kol laughed. "That would make two of us. His highness has good reason to not like me and I try to avoid him when I can. So you also joined him at the tournament?"

I nodded as I did my best to dry off. At least I was not dripping on the floor anymore, I thought glancing at the puddle at my feet.

"Don't worry about making a mess. The cleaning pixies can fix almost anything. Trust me I should know. When I was young I threw red paint everywhere. Father was not happy. A washroom is through that door if you want to get out of your wet clothes." Kol tilted his head to the door to my left.

Timidly I went to pick up the clothes he had brought in for me. They were soft leather riding pants and a smart maroon woman's tunic. They were much nicer than most of the clothes I owned. "I don't want to take someone else's clothes." I said feeling the softness of the black pants.

For the briefest moment, Kol looked sad, but then he was smiling again. "No one will miss those old things. They have been gathering dust in an old wardrobe for years. It's about time someone wore them."

I took the clothes into the washroom and closed the door with a click. There was a round bathtub carved from what looked like blue marble. The same blue marble was used for the floor and wash basin. The walls and arched ceiling were a contrasting white. Instead of a window there was a large oval mirror hung on one wall. It was just as fancy as the bedroom had been. I flushed at the realization that I had been in Kol's bedroom and was glad he was not there to see me.

I peeled off my wet clothes and put on the dry ones. They were made to fit someone who was a lot more voluptuous than I so the clothes hung awkwardly off of my thin frame. I did my best to make myself look presentable though. I undid my braid and combed my fingers through the damp tangles. My hair was a mess after being wet and in a braid, but I tamed it as best I could. I removed my wet stockings and boots before opening the door and returning to Kol's room.

One of the dogs was lying curled up on the bed while the other had its head resting in Kol's lap while he petted it. Kol had changed out of his wet clothes too and now wore a white shirt tucked into light gray breeches. One booted foot was propped up on the table as he lounged in one of the sofas. He now looked like he belonged in a room as rich as the one we occupied. His hair had dried much better than mine had and for a moment I was jealous of how effortlessly it framed his face. He turned to look at me and the dog lifted its head when his hand stopped its path. "There you are. Sorry, the clothes don't fit very well. Their previous owner was far too shapely for her own good."

"Who was the previous owner?" I asked. Stiffly, I sat down on one of the other sofas. I was alone with a man in his bedroom. I had no reason to distrust Kol, he had kept me safe so far, but it was still strange.

The sadness flitted across his face again before disappearing, so fast that I could not be sure I saw it. "They were my sister Bria's. They got left behind."

"Left behind?"

Kol smiled but it was different than his usual carefree grin - tighter. "My parents thought it would be best if they sent her to live in Ghant. She didn't take some of her things."

It seemed that he was not telling me the entire story and I opened my mouth to inquire further about his sister and how she was faring in Ghant. Before I had the chance, Kol brightly spoke up and changed the subject. "It doesn't look like the rain is going to let up anytime soon. You should wait here until it at least slows down a bit. Unless you don't want to stay, then I can arrange to have a carriage take you back to where ever it is you're staying. It must be a bit of a shock finding out I'm not who you thought I was."

"I've been finding that out a lot lately." I shrugged. I was almost used to being completely thrown by Kol – Nikolaus – by now. "I suppose it could be a bit comforting knowing that you are a gentlemen and not a wily street urchin."

Kol winked at me and his mouth tilted in a sideways grin. "Oh, I am most definitely more of a wily street urchin than a gentleman."

"I suppose that is true. You did rob me and we were chased down by a gang of thugs. Not to mention you didn't even say a thing to me at the ball and just stood by watching me." I said dryly. Perhaps if I would have known that the man behind the mask was Kol, I wouldn't have felt so embarrassed. Still, knowing now that it was him I felt twinges of embarrassment anyway. "Did you laugh at me behind your mask?"

"Of course not," he assured. "I thought that I recognized you behind yours and wanted to affirm that I was right. That little scamp who so rudely informed you that you looked stupid was completely wrong you know. You looked lovely. The dress suited you well."

I ducked my head at the unexpected compliment and fumbled for what to say. I was unused to receiving compliments so offhandedly, as if it wasn't a compliment at all and just a statement of fact. "That's very kind of you to say. Your own costume was quite elaborate."

"Father thinks that it is distasteful to completely hide ones identity at those sorts of things. I think that it wards away unwanted conversations with people who I do not particularly want to talk to. Not that it worked well the night of that particular ball. The captain could not have introduced me any louder to his friends and anyone he could find to listen." Kol shook his head in slight annoyance of how loud his father could be.

"He was rather loud, Niko," I emphasized the nickname Captain Rydell had called his son by. "I think everyone in the room heard when he talked about you."

Kol winced at the name. "Please, don't call me that. It is such a silly name. Just forget you have ever heard it."

I grinned at Kol's distaste of his own name. I then remembered something else that his father had said. "So that means that you are engaged to be married"

He tilted his head in confirmation. "My parents have arranged a marriage for me since they think it is high time I settle down with a wife and provide them with grandchildren. The girl is the daughter to one of the more well known socialites in Pharyss – a good match."

For some reason I couldn't imagine Kol married to a socialite's daughter. Not the Kol I knew who picked people's pockets and ran barefoot through the streets wearing a pauper's clothes. What does his future wife think of his antics? "I congratulate you on your upcoming wedding then. I hope you two have a long and happy marriage."

Kol smiled now. His face had turned as serious as such an impish face can be while he spoke of his future. "My father is giving me the chance to fall in love with Miss Roitfield by throwing us together as much as possible before the wedding is planned, but he says whether we are in love or not the wedding will take place before next spring. Speaking of which, are you busy tomorrow? I have a day off from my courting duties and there is a wonderful acrobatic act in the Shetland Theater."

The sudden change of direction in conversation threw me. "How does that relate to what we were speaking of? Won't you want Miss Roitfield to go with you?"

"I'm told she is going to be engaged in pre-ball pampering tomorrow to look her best. While my father wants me to fall in love with her, I do not like her so much as to sit and wait in dress shops all day."

I doubted that his betrothed was anything like Giselle and Victoria, yet I saw little enjoyment for him in a woman's dress shop. I shrugged. Giselle was going to go to the royal menagerie with Christian and as far as I knew Victoria was spending the day with Hector. "I was planning on wandering the festivities in the town tomorrow anyway. Maybe it would be better to see something like an acrobatics show instead of just wandering."

* * *

That's right, duckies! Kol is not some common thief (as a fair few of you have already cleverly figured out), but rather the son of the city's highest ranking officer and the husband-to-be of some mystery woman who will be revealed in time.


	44. Change of Plans

Kol had told me to meet him at the bell tower the following day. Since the Shetland Theater was in a different part of the city, he said he would prepare a coach to take us there. I joked with him that I didn't want any more unexpected surprises this time when I was with him. We talked a bit more about his two dogs until the rain slowed to a light drizzle. He had taken our wet clothes and laid them over a heater so they would dry. When I put my own clothes back on they were dry and warm. He insisted that I take of his family's carriages back to the inn I was staying at. I tried to decline, but he pressed the matter saying it was to make up for all my trouble. In the end I did take the carriage. It was a small dark carriage with the family crest emblazoned on the side in gold, much nicer than the carriages we had in Lyscos. After I had said goodbye to Kol, the driver returned me to the Gilded Leopard.

Giselle and Victoria were already there looking very angry and very soaked. It seemed that the rain had caught them as well. They both stopped talking when I entered the room and Giselle turned to glare at me. They still thought I had spent the day with the prince and were still upset over it. I had no intention of correcting them. If they wanted to be jealous over such a trivial thing and not gripe at me in favor of cold silence, I would not object. A few days free of their incessant complaining might be nice. Tomorrow both of them would be going out with the princes and I would be going somewhere with Kol. Still, I felt a twinge of jealousy about Giselle spending the entire day alone with Christian.

I slept well that night to the gentle sound of the rain which was now just enough to make noise on the windows. There was no more thunder or lightning. I was used to my odd sort of bed and found it rather comforting to have the backs of the chairs rising up protectively around me. It was not as comfortable as a regular bed with a mattress, but it was nice once I added various blankets and pillows that I had found around the room.

I awoke just in time to hear all about the wonderful time Giselle was going to have with the prince today and how excited she was. I rolled over and buried my head beneath a pillow. It did nothing to quiet her voice. "Imagine it, Tori, the prince and I walking arm in arm through the zoo for all to see. It will be so romantic."

"Hector is taking me to a play at the Mados Dral. He told me that it is a fairy theater and only hosts the best plays to perform in Pharyss. Today, Elle, we will both be with our princes." Victoria sang from where they both sat in her room.

I groaned and rolled over. Giselle and Victoria would be leaving in about a half hour. I would accompany them out to show that I too had somewhere to be as well. Already Giselle had been less than subtle in mentioning how some people were not so fortunate to have friends to take them places. I wondered at how her mind worked. She knew full well that the prince had invited me to the tournaments and to the hall of pictures. Somehow she had convinced herself that one day with him made her as good as his wife. I would not need to spend the hour they had in getting ready. Unhurriedly, I dressed in a plain yellow dress with short sleeves made of white lace. I fastened a belt around my waist that had a small coin purse hanging from it. I was not sure if I would need money, but it made me feel better to be prepared.

Both step sisters turned up their noses at my following them out, but neither verbally protested. The two princes were waiting in the lobby along with Sir Brockton. Hector immediately went to kiss Victoria's hand and his younger brother follow suit with Giselle. "You look lovely today, Giselle. I am looking forward to spending the day with you." Christian raised his eyes and saw me. "And you have brought Ebony with you. Perhaps she would like to accompany us. Would you be so kind as to join your sister and me at the zoo, Miss Ebony?"

I smiled broadly and readily accepted. Certainly Kol would understand. I would be sure to send a messenger to the square in my place and inform him of my change of plans. "I would be happy to join you. If you would just give me a moment, we can be on our way." I went over to the woman who sat behind the desk and hastily explained my message and where Kol would be waiting before returning to the prince and my very unhappy stepsister.

Hector, Sir Brockton, and Victoria were walking towards the doors already. Giselle had hid her agitation well and now I could barely tell she was affected by Christian's offer to me. Christian motioned to the doors and together we walked out of the Gilded Leopard. An open carriage was waiting for us at the foot of the steps. After Christian helped us both into the carriage, he climbed in himself. He sat next to Giselle which made her beam across at where I sat by myself. However, I consoled myself that with Christian sitting directly across from me, I could hold a conversation with him easier.

"It will be a pleasure to see the zoo now that it is all completed. I visited one day when they were still moving things around." I said as the carriage pulled away from the inn.

"You have already seen the menagerie, then?" Christian asked.

"I haven't seen the zoo at all," Giselle abruptly volunteered.

I ignored her and continued on as if she hadn't spoken. "Yes, I went a few days before the first ball. Already they had some wonderful creatures there. I saw the white peacocks that I was told are going to be used in your sister's wedding. The mockery was slightly frightening with its ability to mimic anyone's face. She did a perfect rendition of me while I was there."

Giselle looked thoughtful. "What is a mockery?"

"A mockery is a beast from across the seas," Christian explained. "It comes from Conan and is vicious. No one knows what one really looks like because they are always seen in their mocking state. They are called mockeries because they scorn all other creatures and disguise themselves to hunt their prey. They are not a large threat in Conan because they live deep in the jungle and rarely come close to civilization. However, the one that has been caught and brought here was one of the few that ventured into one of Conan's cities. It nearly wiped the city out before it was finally caught. Don't worry though. The mockery has been in captivity for years and its handlers know how to subdue it. It stays locked in its silver lined cage and cannot escape."

I shivered. I still did not think that having such a creature anywhere near people was a good idea.

"Mockeries sound fascinating," Giselle cooed. "What other animals have been brought in for us to see?"

The rest of the carriage ride was spent in Christian describing some of the various animals that had been brought for people to see. Most of the creatures I had already seen on my first visit to the zoo, but Giselle sat and listened with rapt attention to every word he said. I had not thought her to be so interested in animals before. Watching her performance now one would have thought it was her favorite subject. She asked questions and made awed sounds when Christian spoke of dragons or mermaids. At least it was better than her trying to subtly undermine me to Christian, I thought. This way she wasn't telling the prince made up stories that made her seem far more mature than me by comparison.

The zoo had come a long way since I had visited. Instead of having crates and half built cages lying around everywhere, everything was put up and standing tall. A heavy metal fence seemed to encircle the entire field and the gates opened up under a colorful archway with different animals carved into the wood in intricate patterns. Even before we passed under the archway I could hear the different animals that were held within. Lions were roaring along with the melodic song of the mermaids while the shrill call of a harpy mingled with the deep snoring of a living stone. An earth shaking roar from a dragon that could be seen rising up from the center of the field quieted everything for a moment.

"There's so many," Giselle gasped as we walked past a fenced area containing a silver unicorn.

She was right. There was much more than I remembered. I wondered where the mockery was in all of them. Giselle skipped ahead to look into a golden cage holding a tiny light wisp. A man was sitting in between about a dozen of cages similar to the one Giselle peered into. I looked into one of the other cages and came face to face with a little pink pixie.

"All the dangerous animals are in the center of the exhibit." Christian remarked. I doubted night wisps and pixies held much interest for him.

I looked up from the pixie to grin at him. "Do you mean to scare us, your highness?"

"Of course I do not mean to scare you. I was merely stating. It is where all the more interesting creatures are, I think." Christian smirked. He knew that we would not want to miss out on the interesting creatures so we allowed him to lead us to the center of the field.

* * *

And in a quick shift of location we are back at the zoo! (But I am not condoning what she did in standing Kol up because that was really mean)

Just in case you didn't already know...in the story's timeline, tomorrow is the ball (Yay!)


	45. Paislee

There were fewer people near the dangerous animals. It seemed only the brave ventured into the heart of the zoo where all the terrible beasts were kept. When a nearby lion roared, Giselle latched onto Christian's arm in fright. It seemed she was not one of the brave, rather one of the foolhardy who cowered in the face of danger. Apart from the large golden lion there were trolls and goblins who glared at us with red eyes and sharp teeth. We passed monstrous alligators, shifty wights, snarling dire wolves, and a pacing bajang. As we passed, the bajang lunged at us in its cat form only to be stopped by the bars. Irately the beast still reached for us through the bars with claws outstretched. We rounded the large area that had been cleared for the dragon. It was a pine drake like the one my brother must have fought. Pine drakes were small as far as dragons go, but it still made me shudder to think Andrew had to fight one. The dragon was curled up on a mound of burnt grass and appeared to be resting. Apart from the dozens of guards that patrolled the zoo, twenty stood around the dragon lest it should wake and try to break free of its heavy chains.

This area of the field even seemed darker and gloomier. While the sky was still a perfect blue with fluffy white clouds lazily gliding by, the brightness did not seem as strong near the center of the field where they kept the dangerous animals. It had something to do with the fact that everything was so close together. There were not broad areas to walk in between the enclosures and cages with animals making them seem to loom higher. Briefly, it reminded me of another area where tall building towered over narrow alley ways that I had run through.

"How were all these animals caught?" I wondered aloud to redirect my thoughts. Some of the more fearsome beasts seemed too dangerous to be caught and contained in a zoo for people to look at. The mockery was one of those dangerous animals. We had not come across it yet, and I hoped that we would not see the beast at all.

"The men who caught them must have been so brave." Giselle purred as she laid her head against Christian's shoulder. She was still clinging to his arm and he did nothing to shake her off. I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes at her obvious flirting.

Christian did not seem to mind the attention, however, and he readily responded with tales of brave knights who captured the dangerous beasts. I was amazed at the bravery and ingenuity it took to capture the animals we passed. I would have never thought to lie some of the traps that Christian was describing. For each different animal there was a different weakness and trap to be set. Most times, the creatures were caught by master hunters who tracked monsters for sport.

While Christian was telling us about a particularly menacing looking sea serpent that was gracefully coiling around and around in a large tank, there was a scream. All three of us dashed around the bend to where the scream had come from. A huge black bull minotaur seemed to have charged a girl so forcefully that the bars holding it in were bent. The girl who had screamed was now lying on the grass where she had fainted. A few other people had run to see what had happened and soldiers were subduing the beast. The girl stirred and moved the arm that was covering her face. I recognized her; so did Giselle.

"Paislee?" Giselle exclaimed upon seeing her friends face. "What are you doing? Where is Posey?"

Paislee sat up and brushed a few stray hairs away from where they had fallen. Christian gallantly helped her up and immediately she wrapped her arms around Giselle and cried. "Oh, Ellie, it was so terrible. I was just looking at the big cow man when the horrible thing just ran at me. I thought for sure I was going to die. I very nearly did. Posey said that she did not want to look at the animals today so I came here alone. I got lost and ended up in the middle of all these horrible animals. I just wanted to see the fairies and unicorns."

Awkwardly, Giselle patted the smaller girl's back. She was not used to being so violently squeezed and cried on. "Are you alright?" I asked. As far as I could tell, she was not physically hurt. The thick bars had stopped the charge, thank goodness. Paislee just nodded against Giselle's shoulder.

"Come," Christian said gently, "I know the way to the fairies and unicorns. We can take you to them. There are also mermaids."

Paislee sniffed and peeked at the prince from where she had buried her face in Giselle's shoulder. "Mermaids," She squeaked.

Christian nodded. Paislee dried her tears and tried to fix herself up for the prince. She checked that the large pink bow on her head was straight and dusted off the skirt of her dress. She smiled as Christian gestured towards one of the paths between the animals. We began walking again; this time away from where the minotaur's cage stood. Paislee did not let go of Giselle's arm for an instant and looked around at all the other animals with wide eyes. This allowed me to talk to Christian.

"That was very nice of you to offer to show her the way back." I said as we walked.

Christian shrugged as if saving damsels in distress was something he did every day. "I'm surprised that creature dared charge in such a small space. I have never heard of such a thing. Normally bull minotaurs only attack so violently when provoked."

I giggled, "Perhaps it was threatened by that big bow on her head."

Christian laughed along with me as he guided us away from the dangerous animals and towards a place I could see a small herd of striped deer calmly grazing in their fenced off area. It was brighter and more cheery now that we were back in the open away from all the close-set cages and roaring animals. Ahead I could see our destination. In another fenced off area stood about seven unicorns of varying colors. Upon seeing them, Paislee let go of Giselle and ran ahead. In the seconds it took the rest of us to catch up, she had already coaxed a pale pink unicorn with a white horn over to the fence. I went over to stroke the long horse face along with Paislee. I had not seen many unicorns up close before. Its hair was silky smooth beneath my fingers. With a shake of its long ivory mane the unicorn decided it was done getting attention and trotted off.

"They are so pretty." Paislee breathed as she watched it leave.

"I think they are fine enough to look at. I think I prefer the dragons though." Giselle shrugged. She turned away from the fence to look at what else was around. "What's that over there?"

Christian and I turned to look where she was pointing. Paislee never took her eyes from the unicorns and was trying to lure another one over. Giselle was pointing to an impossibly tall animal with large brown splotches along its long neck and body. I recognized the unique neck and knobby legs from a book I had read years ago, but I could not remember what the animal was called.

"That's a giraffe," Christian answered.

We left Paislee with the unicorns and went over to see the tall giraffe. It was wandering around aimlessly in its area.

The rest of our time was spent wandering the outer ring of the zoo. We did not venture into the dangerous center again. Giselle did not stop her shameless flirting, but she was not opening attacking me so I barely minded the way she clung onto Christian. He was still conversing mostly with me except when Giselle drew his attention by asking a question. She had learned that he loved to explain things and an easy way to divert him was to ask questions. We passed all sorts of various creatures. I did not see the white peacocks again. Christian said it was because they had been taken away because they were meant to be a part of his sister's wedding. When he informed me about them, Giselle proudly declared that the birds were her idea.

In the late afternoon as the sun was setting, we left the zoo and returned to the Gilded Leopard. Giselle said her goodbye to the prince and boldly gave him a light kiss on the cheek. I started to make my exit as well, but Christian stopped me.

"Ebony, if you could spare a moment. I have something I wanted to ask you." I returned to my seat and nodded. He continued, "As you know there is another ball tomorrow night. It is a match and that means that couples are to wear matching outfits to it. I was hoping that you would do me the honor of being my partner in the match."

My face nearly split from my wide smile as I quickly agreed. "How shall we match tomorrow? Should we wear the same color?"

Christian chuckled. "The matching is a bit more coordinated than just colors. I will send a dress to you tomorrow morning that will match my outfit. I am so glad you agreed. I cannot wait until tomorrow night."

* * *

Short baby chapter this time.

Just to clarify, I changed a name here. Paislee is from the ball clique. She's Posey's twin sister. Her named started out as Karis, but that wasn't working like I wanted it to so now it's Paislee.


End file.
